- USS General A. W. Greely (AP-141)
USS "General A. W. Greely" (AP-141) was a sclass|General G. O. Squier|transport ship named for U.S. Army general
Adolphus Greely . She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT "General A. W. Greeley" in 1946. On1 March 1950 she was transferred to theMilitary Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS "General A. W. Greely" (T-AP-141). She was later sold and converted to a container ship and operated under several names before being scrapped in 1986.Operational history
The C4 type transport laid down under
Maritime Commission contract18 July 1944 by Kaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3,Richmond, California ; launched5 November 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs. Clarke Wayland; acquired by the Navy22 March 1945 ; and commissioned the same day,Commander George W. Stedman Jr. in command.After shakedown, "General A. W. Greely" embarked 2,923 troops and civilians and departed
San Pedro, California ,16 April forAustralia . She reachedMelbourne ,4 May , then sailed the next day for Fremantle andIndia , arrivingCalcutta ,20 May . After embarking homebound troops, she departed28 May ; steamed viaCeylon andSuez ; and arrivedNewport News, Virginia ,22 June . From28 June to7 July she sailed toLe Havre ,France , where she embarked 3,000 troops before returning toNew York, NY ,18 July . Between28 July and6 December she completed two round-trip voyages from New York to Calcutta, transporting occupation troops, mail, and cargo; and returning home-bound veterans to theUnited States . Departing New York14 December , she reachedKarachi , India,4 January 1946 and embarked additional returning veterans. She sailed6 January for the West Coast; and, steaming via Ceylon,Singapore , and thePhilippines , she arrivedSeattle, Washington ,2 February . She decommissioned atSan Francisco, California ,29 March and was transferred to WSA the same day for use as a transport in the Army Transportation Service, as USAT "General A. W. Greely".On 18 February 1950, USAT General Greely leftBremerhaven , Germany, transporting Displaced Persons to the U.S.A. and arrived at Ellis Island March 3 1950.Reacquired by the Navy1 March 1950 , the ship was assigned toMilitary Sea Transportation Service under a civilian crew and her designation was changed to USNS "General A. W. Greely" (T-AP-141). She departed Seattle5 August and carried troops to theFar East in support of the effort to repelCommunist expansion inKorea . Operating out of Seattle, during the next nine months she made four round-trip voyages toJapan , Korea, andOkinawa . Returning to Seattle3 May 1951 , she then sailed24 May for duty in theAtlantic .Operating out of New York, between
10 October and22 February 1953 "General A. W. Greely" completed numerous transatlantic runs toBremerhaven ,Germany , andLa Pallice , France. The highlight of these runs occurred while en route to Bremerhaven in January 1952, she rescued survivors from the stricken merchantman SS "Flying Enterprise".Placed in reduced operational status from
17 April until5 June 1953, she departed Norfolk16 June for Thule,Greenland . Arriving3 July , she served until30 September as barracks ship during Operation "Blue Jay," the construction ofThule Air Force Base . She returned to New York9 October ; steamed to Bremerhaven and back between10 November and4 December ; and was again placed in reduced operational status from9 December until19 July 1954 ."General A. W. Greely" departed New York
27 July , bound for thePacific . Arriving San Francisco11 August , she sailed for the Far East7 September and operated in Korean and Japanese waters before returning to San Francisco viaAdak, Alaska ,10 October . She steamed toPortland, Oregon ,27 October ; entered thePacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego in March 1955; and was transferred to theNational Defense Reserve Fleet atOlympia, Washington ,29 August 1959 .After being laid up in the reserve fleets for well over a decade, "General A.W. Greely" was sold for commercial use.
Converted to a container ship in 1968, she subsequently was renamed several times, becoming SS "Hawaii Bear" in 1969, SS "Austral Glade" in 1975, SS "Pacific Enterprise" in 1979 and SS "Caribe Enterprise" in 1982. She was sold for scrapping in 1986.
References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-g/ap141.htm Photos of USS "General A. W. Greely"] from the U.S. Navy Historical Center
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