SS ''Alexander Majors'' was a
Liberty ship built for the
United States Maritime Commission during
World War II. The ship was named in honor of
Alexander Majors an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
who with
William Hepburn Russell and
William B. Waddell founded the
Pony Express. The ship was assigned by the
War Shipping Administration to
Isthmian Steamship Company of New York who operated it throughout World War 2. ''Alexander Majors'' was Laid down on 27 December 1943, launched on 20 January 1944 and completed on 4 March 1944, with the hull No. 2262 as part of the
Emergency Shipbuilding Program.
Attacked
''Alexander Majors'' was part of the supply ships that supported the
Battle of Leyte from 7 October to 26 December 1944 in the
Pacific war campaign of World War II. On November 12, 1944 ''Alexander Majors'' was at anchor west of
Dulag, Leyte in
Leyte Gulf, when an
Empire of Japan plane
Plane(s) most often refers to:
* Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft
* Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface
Plane or planes may also refer to:
Biology
* Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant
* Planes (gen ...
dropped an
aerial bomb
An aerial bomb is a type of explosive or incendiary weapon intended to travel through the air on a predictable trajectory. Engineers usually develop such bombs to be dropped from an aircraft.
The use of aerial bombs is termed aerial bombing.
...
about from the ship. Her
United States Navy Armed Guard shot the plane down. In the afternoon another
kamikaze plane attacked ''Alexander Majors''. The plane hit a second plane that crashed into ''Alexander Majors''
mainmast. The plane exploded, killing two crew and blowing the cargo cover off
cargo holds #3 and #4. Fire starting in the two cargo holds. The Armed Guards help shoot down the third plane. The explosion blew some of the crew overboard. The explosion knocked out the ship fire fighting gear. But a Navy
LCI fire fighting ship was able to come alongside and put out the fire in the two cargo holds. The cargo in hold #3 and #4 was a complete loss, kapok
life jackets in #3 took days to put out. ''Alexander Majors'', still operational, continued to defend off more planes. She destroyed a plane on November 24. There were 160 more attacks from November 4 to December 4, but she survived each. Her burnt two cargo holes,
deck,
bridge and two
lifeboats were repaired or replaced. The kamikaze attack was at 11°11'N, 125°05'E. In addition to the two crewmen killed, one seaman was hit by
shrapnel metal, one Armed Guard was hospitalized at
Leyte, 11 Armed Guards and two
United States Army were burnt by the fire. At the end of the war, she was turned over to the
Army Transportation Service
The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...
and was operated as a
troop ship to bring home vets as part of
Operation Magic Carpet
Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships ...
. The Army Transportation Service renamed her the SS ''Alexander Majors'' USAT.
Post war
After the war, in 1947, she was sold to a private party, Soc.di Nav.Italia in
Genoa,
Italy and operated as an Italian flagship. She was renamed SS ''Tritone'' In 1972 she was laid up at Trieste. In 1973 she was scrapped at
Sant'Angelo in Vado
Sant'Angelo in Vado is a ''comune'' (municipality), site of Ancient Tifernum Metaurense and former bishopric in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the central Italy, Italian Adriatic region Marche.
Geography
It is located about west of Ancona a ...
.
skylighters.org liberty ships
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See also
* Allied technological cooperation during World War II
The Allies of World War II cooperated extensively in the development and manufacture of new and existing technologies to support military operations and intelligence gathering during the Second World War. There are various ways in which the allie ...
* List of Liberty ships
* Type C1 ship
Type C1 was a designation for small cargo ships built for the United States Maritime Commission before and during World War II. Total production was 493 ships built from 1940 to 1945. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original M ...
* Type C2 ship
* Victory ship
* U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...
References
External links
U.S. Maritime Service Veterans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Majors
Liberty ships
Ships built in Richmond, California
1944 ships