USS General W. H. Gordon (AP-117)

USS "General W. H. Gordon" (AP-117) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, she was transferred to the US Army and served as USAT "General W. H. Gordon". With the outbreak of the Korean War, she was reacquired by the Navy as a civilian-manned Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) vessel, and redesignated USNS "General W. H. Gordon" (T-AP-117). She served again under the same designation during the Vietnam War.

"General W. H. Gordon" was launched under Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, 7 May 1944; and commissioned, after being acquired by the Navy, 29 June 1944, Captain R. E. Wood, USCG, in command.

World War II

Following her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay, "General W. H. Gordon" proceeded to Boston and sailed 5 September in convoy for France. She arrived Cherbourg with troop reinforcements 15 September and returned to New York via Plymouth 30 September 1944.

Subsequently, the transport made 12 voyages to various European and African ports in support of the accelerating Allied effort against the Axis. She carried vital supplies, troops, and returned large numbers of German prisoners of war to the United States.

"General W. H. Gordon" sailed to Panama from France 5 August 1945, bringing replacement troops for the Pacific campaigns. She stopped at Ulithi and Manila to debark troops and steamed into San Francisco Bay 25 September 1945.

After hostilities

The war over, the veteran transport sailed again 13 October with over 4,000 occupation troops for Japan and Korea. After one more voyage to Japan, the ship returned to San Francisco 29 January 1946 and decommissioned at Oakland 11 March. She was then stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, and transferred to the War Shipping Administration (WSA). Subsequently she was put to use by the Army Transport Service, as USAT "General W. H. Gordon".

Army transport

"General W. H. Gordon" was one of two ships of her class chartered by WSA to the American President Lines (APL) in mid-1946 for postwar operation as troopships, the other being "General M. C. Meigs". A design designated P2-S2-R10 was prepared, probably for the full conversion of these two ships to passenger liners, but the project was not carried out.

While in civilian service the ship appears to have been painted in APL colors but retained the name "General W. H. Gordon". She made numerous calls at Shanghai, China, and was said to be the last American ship to leave that port before the Communists took over the city in 1949. In March 1950, at Tientsin, China, she embarked the U.S. Consul General from Shanghai, who a few days earlier had hauled down his flag, the last flying over a diplomatic post on the Chinese mainland.

Korean War

In November 1951, upon expiration of APL's charter, she was taken into the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register and placed in service as a civilian-manned Navy transport. USNS "General W. H. Gordon" (T-AP-117) departed San Francisco in December 1951 on the first of many trans-Pacific voyages in support of Korean War operations.

1950s-1960s

She was modernized at Portland, Oregon, between June and December 1953, with her World War II vintage lifeboats and davits being replaced and eight new empty positions for 3"/50 twin gun mounts fitted, presumably for service as a regular Navy armed transport if required. However, the need for large troop transports declined, and "General W. H. Gordon" was inactive between October 1954 and March 1955. Transferred to the Atlantic in late 1956, she was laid up in the Maritime Administration's Hudson River reserve fleet in June 1957 and a year later stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.

In May 1961 the Navy reacquired "General W. H. Gordon" from the Maritime Administration, reinstated her on the Naval Vessel Register and returned her to MSTS service. She spent the next several years carrying troops between New York and Bremerhaven, West Germany.

Vietnam War

In 1965 the transport went to the Pacific to support the expanding Vietnam War, making numerous voyages between the U.S. West Coast and Southeast Asia. She was also credited with participating in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive and the Tet Counteroffensive between December 1967 and March 1968.

Final decommission

USNS "General W. H. Gordon" was laid up in the Maritime Administration's James River Reserve Fleet in April 1970, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1986 and sold for scrapping in April 1987.

Awards

"General W. H. Gordon" earned four battle stars for her Korean War service and two for the Vietnam War.

References

* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ap117.htm "General W. H. Gordon" AP-117] - DANFS Online.
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22117.htm USS "General W. H. Gordon" (AP-117)] , Navsource Online.
*DANFS