General G. O. Squier class transport ship

The "General G. O. Squier" class of transport ships was built for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

The first ship was launched in November 1942, while the last was launched in April 1945. In that span the United States produced 30 "General G. O. Squier"-class transports. The class was based upon the Maritime Commission’s Type C4 ship.

All of the ships were initially designated with hull classification symbol “AP” and numbered from 130 through 159. All but the four ships of the class (130, 131, 132, and 136) were transferred to the U.S. Army Transportation Service in 1946 and served as United States Army Transports (USAT), several of them being refitted to a larger gross tonnage. The 24 still in service (numbers 134, 135, 137–151, and 153–159) in 1950 were transferred back to the Navy as part of the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). All but two were transferred on 1 March 1950, [USNS|General R. E. Callan|T-AP-139|3 on 28 April 1950, and USNS|General LeRoy Eltinge|T-AP-154|3 on 20 July 1950] and all were reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register as United States Naval Ships (USNS), and redesignated with hull classification symbol “T-AP”.

Most of the "General G. O. Squier" class were deactivated in 1958 for two reasons: the introduction of jet airliners, and a decision to use berthing space on U.S.-flagged passenger ships.cite web | url = http://www.usmm.org/msts/line.html | title = Military Sealift Command Ships of the Line | first = Salvatore R. | last = Mercogliano | work = American Merchant Marine at War | publisher = USMM.org | date = 2000-11-29 | accessdate = 2007-11-12 ] Two ships, however, USNS|General LeRoy Eltinge|T-AP-154|2 and USNS|General R. M. Blatchford|T-AP-153|2, assisted in United Nations efforts in the Congo Republic in the early 1960s, and both were pressed into service transporting troops to Vietnam in the mid 1960s.

Two other ships of the "General G. O. Squier" class, USS|General Harry Taylor|AP-145|2 and USS|General R. E. Callan|AP-139|2 were transferred to the U.S. Air Force as missile tracking ships as part of the Missile Test Project, and renamed USAFS "General Hoyt S. Vandenberg" and USAFS "General H. H. Arnold", respectively. They were later transferred back to MSTS under their new names and redesignated with hull classification symbol “T-AGM”.

Only one "General G. O. Squier"-class ship currently remains afloat. The ex-"General Hoyt S. Vandenberg" is scheduled to be sunk as an artificial reef off of the Florida Keys in early 2008.

The U.S. Navy’s sclass|Haven|hospital ship|1s were also based on the Type C4 hull design.

General characteristics

* Displacement: General G. O. Squier class displacement
* Length: General G. O. Squier class length
* Beam: General G. O. Squier class beam
* Draft:
** General G. O. Squier class draft I (AP 130, 134, 137, 140, 142–149, 151, 154–158)
** General G. O. Squier class draft II (AP 131–133, 135–136, 138–139, 141, 150, 152–153, 159)
* Complement: General G. O. Squier class complement
** 425 (AP 136, 150)
** 426 (AP 133)
** 449 (AP 139)
** 471 (AP 132)
** 494 (AP 138)
** 512 (AP 135)
* Troop capacity:
** 2,173 troops (AP 147)
** General G. O. Squier class troop capacity II (AP 133, 137, 149–151)
** 3,444 troops (AP 132)
** 3,522 troops (AP 131)
** 3,530 troops (AP 134)
** 3,595 troops (AP 140)
** General G. O. Squier class troop capacity (AP 130, 135–136, 139, 141–144, 148, 152–159)
** 4,766 troops (AP 138)
** 6,086 troops (AP 146)
* Armament
** AP 130–133, 145, 149:
General G. O. Squier class armament I
** AP 141, 154–159:
General G. O. Squier class armament II
* Speed: General G. O. Squier class speed
* Propulsion: General G. O. Squier class propulsion

"General G. O. Squier"-class ships

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*, later USNS|General H. H. Arnold|T-AGM-9
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*, later USNS|General Hoyt S. Vandenberg|T-AGM-10
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References

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