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USS ''General A. W. Greely'' (AP-141) was a named for U.S. Army general Adolphus Greely. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT ''General A. W. Greeley'' in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the
Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
(MSTS) as USNS ''General A. W. Greely'' (T-AP-141). She was later sold and converted to a container ship and operated under several names before being scrapped in 1986.


Operational history

The ''Greely'' was a Type C4 transport, laid down under
Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
contract 18 July 1944 by Kaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3,
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.
; launched 5 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Clarke Wayland; acquired by the navy 22 March 1945; and commissioned the same day. After shakedown, ''General A. W. Greely'' embarked 2,923 troops and civilians and departed
San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
, 16 April for
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. She reached
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, 4 May, then sailed the next day for
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, arriving
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, 20 May. After embarking homebound troops, she departed 28 May; steamed via
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and Suez; and arrived
Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
on 22 June. From 28 June to 7 July she sailed to
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, France, where she embarked 3,000 troops before returning to
New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on 18 July. Between 28 July and 6 December she completed two round-trip voyages from New York to Calcutta, transporting occupation troops, mail, and cargo; and returning home-bound veterans to the United States. Departing New York 14 December, she reached
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, India, 4 January 1946 and embarked additional returning veterans. She sailed 6 January for the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
; and, steaming via Ceylon,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, and the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, she arrived
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, 2 February. She decommissioned at
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California, 29 March and was transferred to WSA the same day for use as a transport in the Army Transportation Service, as USAT ''General A. W. Greely''. Part of this transportation service involved the immigration of displaced persons from Europe to the United States and Australia. Reacquired by the navy 1 March 1950, the ship was assigned to
Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
under a civilian crew and her designation was changed to USNS ''General A. W. Greely'' (T-AP-141). She departed Seattle 5 August and carried troops to the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...
in support of the effort to repel Communist expansion in Korea. Operating out of Seattle, during the next nine months she made four round-trip voyages to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Korea, and
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
. Returning to Seattle 3 May 1951, she then sailed 24 May for duty in the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. Operating out of New York, between 10 October 1951 and 22 February 1953 ''General A. W. Greely'' completed numerous transatlantic runs to Bremerhaven, Germany, and La Pallice, France. While en route from Bremerhaven in January 1952, she rescued survivors from the stricken merchantman SS ''Flying Enterprise''. Placed in reduced operational status from 17 April until 5 June 1953, she departed Norfolk 16 June for Thule,
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
. Arriving on 3 July, she served until 30 September as barracks ship during Operation "Blue Jay," the construction of
Thule Air Force Base Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...
. She returned to New York 9 October; steamed to Bremerhaven and back between 10 November and 4 December; and was again placed in reduced operational status from 9 December until 19 July 1954. ''General A. W. Greely'' departed New York 27 July, bound for the Pacific. Arriving San Francisco 11 August, she sailed for the Far East 7 September and operated in Korean and Japanese waters before returning to San Francisco via Adak, Alaska, 10 October. She steamed to
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, 27 October; entered the
Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...
at San Diego in March 1955; and was transferred to the
National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...
at
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...
, 29 August 1959. After being laid up in the reserve fleets for well over a decade, ''General A.W. Greely'' was sold for commercial use in 1968 to Pacific Far East Line (PFEL), converted to a container ship, and renamed SS ''Hawaii Bear'', USCG ON 513675, IMO 6904791. In 1975 she was sold to Farrell Lines and renamed SS ''Austral Glade''. Sold again in 1979 to American Pacific Container Line, she was renamed SS ''Pacific Enterprise'', and then SS ''Caribe Enterprise'' in 1982. She was sold for scrapping in 1986.Williams, 2013, pp. 129-130


References


Sources

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External links


Photos of USS ''General A. W. Greely''
from the U.S. Navy Historical Center * {{DEFAULTSORT:General A. W. Greely A. W. Greely Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Transport ships of the United States Army Ships built in Richmond, California 1944 ships Olympia Reserve Fleet