USS ''Joseph Hewes'' (AP-50/APA-22), formerly SS ''Excalibur'', was a troop transport for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

commanded by Captain Robert McLanhan Smith Jr. A part of the Center Attack Group of Admiral Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force, Operation Torch, ''Joseph Hewes'' was sunk on November 11, 1942 by the German submarine U-173 in Fedala Roads off French Morocco coast during the

Naval Battle of Casablanca The Naval Battle of Casablanca was a series of naval engagements fought between American ships covering the invasion of North Africa and Vichy French ships defending the neutrality of French Morocco in accordance with the Second Armistice at C ...

Pre-war history

She was built by the

New York Shipbuilding The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

Corporation, and launched in 1930 in Camden, New Jersey as the combination passenger-cargo luxury liner SS ''Excalibur''. One of

American Export Lines American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the U.S. east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both cargo ship and passenger ship services, until it declared bankruptcy and was ...

" 4 Aces" sister ships — SS ''Excalibur'', SS ''Exeter'', SS ''Excambion'' and SS ''Exochorda'' — she provided regular service between New York and Europe. SS ''Excalibur'' departed on her maiden voyage on January 24, 1931, sailing from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, and then turning back and stopping at

, Leghorn,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and finally reaching New York. In August 1940, ''Excalibur'' carried the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

from Lisbon to Bermuda, where she stopped on a special call.The First Series of the Much Loved "Four Aces"
''SSmaritime'' by Reuben Goossens On January 8, 1942, ''Excalibur'' was acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and assigned the task of transporting troops to and from battle areas as an AP-class

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

. She was commissioned on May 1, 1942 as USS ''Joseph Hewes'' (AP-50).Naval History and Heritage Command: Joseph Hewes
/ref> Her sister ships were also converted for war purposes; out of all original " 4 Aces" only the SS ''Exochorda'' survived the war.

World War II

After conversion and fitting out, ''Joseph Hewes'' sortied from

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

on October 24, 1942 as part of the Center Attack Group of Admiral Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force en route to

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

as part of Operation Torch. She was carrying 80 officers and 1,074 men of the reinforced 3rd Infantry Division, U.S. Army, plus ammunition and supplies. The transport arrived off

Fedhala Mohammedia ( ar, المحمدية, al-muḥammadiyya; ber, ⴼⴹⴰⵍⴰ, Fḍala), known until 1960 as Fedala, is a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat in the region of Casablanca-Settat. It hosts the most i ...

on November 8, by 0705 hours, landed all troops, and then commenced unloading ammunition and supplies. By November 11, ''Joseph Hewes'' had completed cargo unloading and had received 30 casualties from the beach fire.

Sinking

At 1950 hours she took a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

hit in No. 2 hold from ''U-173''. The ship settled by the bow and began filling rapidly with water. Captain Smith endeavored to pick up anchor or slip chain but, as the entire

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

was under water, this was not possible. He then attempted to beach the ship by backing engines but her

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

was out of the water, so the order was given to abandon ship. ''Joseph Hewes'' went down at 2032 hours, taking Captain Smith and approximately 100 seamen with her. ''U-173'' paid heavily for her victory, for she was sunk five days later off

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

by American

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

Recognition

USS ''Joseph Hewes'' received for her

service ''Combat Action Ribbon'' (retroactive, 11 November 1942), ''American Campaign Medal'', ''Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal'' with a

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

, as well as ''World War II Victory Medal''. Prior to her loss, ''Joseph Hewes'' had been designated for reclassification in early 1943 as an APA-class

attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

, USS ''Joseph Hewes'' (APA-22). Her assigned hull numerical sequence, APA-22, was never reissued to another transport ship. In the 1956

Universal International Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

production ''

Away All Boats ''Away All Boats'' is a 1956 American war film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker, and Julie Adams. It was produced by Howard Christie from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman based on the 1953 novel by Kenn ...

'', the USS ''Randall'' (APA-224) wore hull number APA-22 while standing in as the motion picture's fictional USS ''Belinda''. Captain Robert Mclanahan Smith, Jr.,

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

class of 1919, was posthumously awarded with the

Silver Star Medal The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an en ...

, the third-highest military decoration for valor awarded to members of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. His citation read:

Namesake

The USS ''Joseph Hewes'' was named after

Joseph Hewes Joseph Hewes (July 9, 1730– November 10, 1779) was an American Founding Father, a signer of the Continental Association and U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes's parents were ...

(1730-1779), signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, who acted as Navy Secretary at the time and supported Navy Captain

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

, one of the founders of the U.S Navy.Historic naval letters resurface in Charleston
, ''Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs'', May 21, 2013

References

External links

*

* ttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/apa-unit.htm U.S. Navy Attack transports ''Global Security'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph Hewes (AP-50) Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation 1930 ships Passenger ships of the United States World War II passenger ships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Transports of the United States Navy Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in November 1942