USS Republic
![]() USAT Republic at Hunters Point, post-World War II
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History | |
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Name | USS Republic (AP-33) |
Namesake | Serbia, Ulysses S. Grant, James Buchanan |
Owner |
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Builder | Harland and Wolff , United Kingdom |
Yard number | 354 |
Launched | 19 February 1903 |
Christened | SS Servian |
Completed | 1903 |
Acquired | Seized from Germany, 6 April 1917 |
Maiden voyage | 14 September 1907, Hamburg–Boulogne-sur-Mer–Southampton–New York |
In service |
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Renamed |
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Stricken | From the Navy: 2 February 1945 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 11 March 1952 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 33,000 long tons (33,530 t) |
Length | 599 ft (183 m) |
Beam | 68 ft 2 in (20.78 m) |
Draft | 34 ft (10 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) |
Complement | 712 |
Armament |
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USS Republic (AP-33) was a
Originally christened as the SS Servian, she was built in 1903 by
After being purchased by the
World War I
Turned over to the Navy, she was commissioned USS President Grant (SP-3014) on 2 August 1917. During her operations as a troop transport, she made sixteen round trips between New York and ports of France, carrying a total of 40,104 servicemen on her eastbound passage, and a total of 37,025 servicemen on her westbound returns to New York.[1][2]
Between the wars
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/111-SC-41474_-_NARA_-_55242074-cropped.jpg/250px-111-SC-41474_-_NARA_-_55242074-cropped.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/SS_Republic_233033843.jpg/250px-SS_Republic_233033843.jpg)
President Grant was transferred to the Army 6 October 1919. During the period January to November 1920, she served as the United States Army Transport Republic and made two voyages repatriating
In 1931, she reverted to Army control as a troopship. After alterations, USAT Republic made three trips to San Francisco, Hawaii, and Manila. She later made two visits to China and one to Japan. In 1932, Far Eastern ports were excluded and she was confined to a regular New York-Honolulu run until June 1941.[1][2]
USAT Republic was again taken over by the Navy and commissioned as USS Republic (AP-33) on 22 July 1941. Her armament consisted of one 5" and four 3" mounts. After completing a crossing from New York carrying troops to Iceland, Republic sailed for San Francisco.[1][3][4]
On 21 November 1941 Republic left San Francisco for the Philippines by way of Hawaii with 2,666
World War II
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/StateLibQld_1_101348.jpg/250px-StateLibQld_1_101348.jpg)
At eleven in the morning of 7 December Commander Clark received a message indicating an attack on Pearl Harbor that was first thought to be from an exercise until another message from Commander in Chief,
With Japanese forces reported only 300 miles away in the
On 22 December the convoy reached Brisbane under further escort by Australian and New Zealand warships and Task Force South Pacific became United States Forces in
Australia (USFIA).
Between March and November 1942 she served on the San Francisco-Honolulu run, completing a total of seven voyages. During 1943 and 1944, the Republic operated out of San Francisco, transporting troops and supplies to Honolulu and the Southwest Pacific. She called at Fiji, Samoa, Nouméa, Guadalcanal, Sydney, Funafuti, Hollandia and other ports.[1][3]
Republic returned home in early 1945 and decommissioned at New Orleans 27 January 1945. She was struck from the Navy Register 2 February 1945 and turned over to the Army for conversion to a hospital ship, designated USAHS Republic.[1]
Postwar service
Republic was overhauled by the
In January 1948 it arrived in Seattle, Washington from Yokohama, Japan.
In the summer of 1948, US Army dependents and employees embarked in Seattle, WA for a voyage to Tokyo, Japan.
In May 1949, she was decommissioned by the
Notes
- ^ 2,666 is the sum of officers and men given by Mayo. Thirty-six fewer, "2,630 troops," is the number given by Matloff. An even smaller total, 2,521, is indicated in the monograph Water Transportation For The United States Army 1939 – 1942 (Larson, 1944) by "some 181 officers and 2,340 enlisted men" on page 85.
- ^ Masterson uses "Republic Convoy" as well as some other references.
- "Lost Battalion"surrounded by German forces in the Vosges Mountains on 24 October 1944. The other units, the 147th Field Artillery Regiment and the 148th Field Artillery Regiment were aboard the Holbrook in the same convoy.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "President Grant". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center. Archived from the original on 2004-06-01. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ^ a b c "USS President Grant (ID # 3014), 1917–1919". Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships. Naval Historical Center. Archived from the original on 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ^ a b c "USS Republic (AP-33), 1941–1945". Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships. Naval Historical Center. Archived from the original on 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ^ Mayo 1991, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e Mayo 1991, p. 35.
- ^ a b c Masterson 1949, p. 4.
- ^ Morton 1993, pp. 145–148.
- ^ Thompson et al. 1957, p. 29.
- ^ Matloff & Snell 1999, p. 72.
- ^ Morton 1993, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Mayo 1991, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Mayo 1991, p. 36.
- ^ Masterson 1949, p. 460.
Bibliography
- Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941–1947. Washington, D. C.: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army.
- Matloff, Maurice; Snell, Edwin M. (1999). The War Department: Strategic Planning For Coalition Warfare 1941-1942. United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 53-61477.
- Mayo, Lida (1991). The Technical Services—The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead And Battlefront. United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 79014631.
- Morton, Lewis (1993). The War in the Pacific: The Fall Of The Philippines. United States Army In World War II. Washington, D.C.: Center Of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 53-63678.
- Thompson, George Raynor; Harris, Dixie R.; Oakes, Pauline M.; Terrett, Dulany (1957). The Technical Services—The Signal Corps: The Test (December 1941 to July 1943). United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 56-60003.
External links
- Pictorial collection documenting the trans-Siberian trek of the Czech legion during the Russian Revolution.
- 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery USS Houston (CA-30) Survivors
- USS Republic Equator crossing, 6 December 1941
- AP-33 Republic Navsource Online.
- [1] Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy: Auxiliary Vessels 1835–1945