USS Hancock (AP-3)
Mare Island Navy Yard , early 1900s
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | USS Hancock |
| Namesake | John Hancock |
| Builder | John Elder & Co, Govan |
| Yard number | 222 |
| Launched | 10 March 1879 |
| Completed | 1879 |
| Acquired | 8 November 1902 |
| Commissioned |
|
| Reclassified | Classified as AP-3, 1920; reclassified as IX-12, 1921 |
| Fate | Sold, 21 May 1926, scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 5,146 GRT, 2,928 NRT |
| Displacement | 8,500 tons |
| Length | 456.2 ft (139.0 m) |
| Beam | 45.4 ft (13.8 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 3 in (7.39 m) |
| Depth | 35.7 ft (10.9 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Complement | 278 |
| Armament | 6 x single 3" gun mounts |
USS Hancock (AP-3) was a transport ship in the United States Navy. Acquired by the Navy in 1902, she took part in World War I and a number of US military and diplomatic ventures prior to that. She was named for Founding Father John Hancock.
Hancock, the third US Navy ship to bear the name, was built in 1879 by John Elder & Co, Glasgow, Scotland. Formerly Arizona, she was purchased by the War Department during the Spanish–American War and transferred to the Navy 8 November 1902. She was commissioned 20 November 1902.
Operational service
Hancock sailed from
21 February 1903 and decommissioned 9 March 1903 for fitting out. Recommissioned 21 September 1903, she served as receiving ship at the New York Navy Yard until relieved by Washington 6 August 1913.Mexican revolution
Hancock departed New York 15 September 1913 and arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard the following day to be fitted out as a Marine transport.
In 1914 she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, having embarked the 1st Regiment, Advance Base Brigade of Marines.
On 17 April or 19 April 1914 she arrived at Tampico.[1][2]
On 22 April and/or on 1 May 1914 she arrived at Veracruz.[3][1]
She landed the Marines at
Caribbean operations
Other trouble spots erupted in the Americas. Both
Hancock resumed duty cruising in the Caribbean. She continued to transport Marines, stores, provisions, mail, and other cargo to forces ashore in Mexico, Haiti, and Santo Domingo. From 12 to 30 September 1916 she assisted in the salvage of material from Memphis (CA-10) after the cruiser was driven ashore by a storm surge in the harbor of Santo Domingo. Hancock carried the ill-fated ship's crew, stores, fittings, and ammunition to the Norfolk Navy Yard.
Takeover of Danish West Indies
Hancock was at
World War I
On 6 April 1917 the United States declared war on Germany six days later Hancock took possession of German steamers Wasgenwald and Calabria interned there.
Hancock arrived at San Juan, Puerto Rico, 18 May 1917 to take possession of two more interned German steamships Präsident and Odenwald. She embarked 29 German prisoners of war 23 May 1917, and stood out of San Juan harbor that afternoon to tow Odenwald to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she arrived 1 June 1917.
Hancock was assigned to the U.S.
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Wasgenwald as USS Shoshone (ID-1760) -
Odenwald as USS Newport News (AK-3) -
Präsident as USS Kittery (AK-2)
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Final commission
Hancock recommissioned 15 March 1920 and departed Philadelphia 2 April 1920 for Rosyth, Scotland, to man and fit out former German warships SMS Ostfriesland and Frankfurt which had been allocated to the United States as spoils of war. She returned to New York with the vessels 9 August 1920.
After repairs at Philadelphia, she resumed transport duties between the East coast and the West Indies, 5 October 1920. She got underway from Philadelphia 5 March 1921 for
She was towed from Pearl Harbor 9 July 1925 arrived at the
References
- ^ a b "Logbook of HMS Essex". naval-history.net. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ^ The Landing at Veracruz: 1914 by Jack Sweetman, 1968, p.43xx
- ^ The Landing at Veracruz: 1914 by Jack Sweetman, 1968, p.xx
- USS Hancock AP-3/IX-12 – Navsource Online.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.