USS General M. M. Patrick (AP-150)
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| History | |
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 United States |
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| Namesake: | Mason Mathews Patrick |
| Builder: | |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 21 June 1944 |
| Acquired: | 4 September 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 4 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 March 1946 |
| In service: |
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| Out of service: |
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| Reclassified: | T-AP-150, 1 March 1950 |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | General G. O. Squier-class transport ship |
| Displacement: | 9,950 tons (light), 17,250 tons (full) |
| Length: | 522 ft 10 in (159.36 m) |
| Beam: | 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Propulsion: | single-screw steam turbine with 9,900 shp (7,400 kW) |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 3,343 troops |
| Complement: | 425 (officers and enlisted) |
| Armament: |
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USS General M. M. Patrick (AP-150) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Mason Mathews Patrick. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General M. M. Patrick in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General M. M. Patrick (T-AP-150). She was later sold for commercial operation and rebuilt as a container ship.[2]
Operational history
General M. M. Patrick (AP-150) was launched 21 June 1944 under Maritime Commission contract (MC #702)[2] by Kaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3, Richmond, California; sponsored by Mrs. William E. Lynd; acquired by the Navy 4 September 1944; and commissioned at San Francisco the same day, Captain George W. Stott in command.
After shakedown, General M. M. Patrick departed San Francisco 14 October and transported nearly 3,000 troops to Pearl Harbor and Guam before returning to San Francisco 18 January 1945 with military passengers. Between 19 February and 6 March she carried more troops from Seattle to Hawaii and returned sailors to San Francisco. With a full load of troops embarked, she then sailed 16 March for the Southwest Pacific, where she arrived San Pedro Bay, Philippines, 18 April. After shuttling troops from Allied bases along the northern coast of New Guinea to Luzon, she departed Manila 16 May and brought home returning veterans, arriving San Francisco 12 June. Once again departing San Francisco 28 June, she transported 3,000 troops and passengers to Fremantle, Australia; steamed to Calcutta, India, to embark passengers; then sailed via the Suez Canal to New York, where she arrived 3 September.
On the 22d General M. M. Patrick departed on another Magic Carpet voyage to Calcutta and back to New York, arriving 16 November. Departing New York 9 days later, she embarked still more troops at Calcutta, Karachi, and Tuticorin, India; steamed via Ceylon and Singapore for the West Coast; and arrived San Pedro 28 January 1946. She decommissioned 8 March and was returned to WSA 11 March for use as an Army transport under the Army Transportation Service.
General M. M. Patrick was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950 and assigned to duty as an overseas transport under MSTS. Manned by a civilian crew, during the Korean War she operated between Seattle and the Far East and carried tens of thousands of combat troops to Korea. After the armistice, she continued steaming from Seattle to Yokohama, Japan, and back, returning veterans of the Korean fighting to the United States and deploying troops to the Far East.
On 29 November 1952 USNS General M. M. Patrick steamed from Yokohama to Seattle with some 118 paintings, sculptures, and examples of applied arts destined for the 1953 exhibition Japanese Painting and Sculpture.[3] This exhibition was a pivotal exhibition of Japanese art in America[3] and was seen at the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Seattle Art Museum.[3] Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson — a member of the Honorary Committee for the exhibition — arranged for the use of the General M. M. Patrick for the exhibit, the only international art exhibition ever to receive such support by the Defense Department.[3]
The transport was returned to the Maritime Administration 17 October 1958 and entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at Olympia, Washington.
The ship was sold for commercial use in 1967[2] to Litton Industries,[1] and in 1968-1969 was converted by Todd Shipyard, Galveston to the Sea-Land Service container ship SS Boston, USCG ON 511485.[2][4] The ship may have been scrapped in 1975,[1] or as of 2007[update], be awaiting disposal from the NDRF at Suisun Bay.[2]
15 April 2010 ship headed to San Francisco for preparation to go through the Panama Canal to Texas for Scrappage. She left San Francisco Bay in early May, destined for the Texas scrapyard.
General M. M. Patrick received two battle stars for Korean War service.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Sources
- Williams, Greg H.; "World War II U.S. Navy Vessels in Private Hands"; McFarland Books, 2013; ISBN 978-0-7864-6645-0
External links
- Photo gallery of General M. M. Patrick at NavSource Naval History
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