USS George F. Elliott (AP-105)
Encyclopedia
USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was the second US Navy ship to bear the name (the first being the transport , which was lost to enemy action in August 1942).
AP-105, a Maritime Commission (CP-3) type was built as SS Delbrasil in 1939 by Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
at Sparrows Point, Maryland, and delivered to the Mississippi Shipping Company on 31 May 1940. On 25 August 1943 she was acquired by the Navy, renamed USS George F. Elliott (AP-105), and commissioned 23 September 1943, Commander A. J. Couble in command.
World War II
From 3 October 1943 to 31 January 1944 two troop-carrying voyages out of San Diego brought fighting men to NouméaNouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
, and Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
. Subsequently, George F. Elliott left San Francisco 18 February to embark cargo and over 1,700 sailors and marines at Port Hueneme. She steamed thence to Havannah Harbor, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, arriving 9 March, and for the next 2 months made troop shuttle voyages between Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal, the Russell Islands
Russell Islands
The Russell Islands are two small islands, as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. They are located approximately 48 km northwest from Guadalcanal. The islands are partially covered in coconut plantations, and have a copra and oil factory at...
, Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
, and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
before putting in at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
7 May 1944.
Invasion of Saipan
On 29 May George F. Elliott departed with attack Group 1 of Task Force 52 for the invasion of the strategic island of SaipanSaipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
and closed the island's west coast 15 June for D-day. She was ordered to join a diversionary assault force staging a demonstration landing to the northwest to divert the enemy from the real landing beaches. Despite air attack she sent troops away and unloaded cargo until getting underway 22 June for Makin Atoll, Tarawa, Apamama, Pearl Harbor, and finally San Diego, reaching there 17 July.
Invasion of Leyte
Following a troop transport voyage to Pearl Harbor and return, George F. Elliott made another trip to Pearl Harbor, she sailed from there 15 September for Eniwetok, Manus, and LeyteLeyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
, reaching the latter port in time for D-day, 20 October 1944. She debarked troops and cargo though harassed by air attacks, getting underway 24 October with mission accomplished and closing Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
the 29th.
Invasion of Luzon
George F. Elliott brought troops and supplies from Wake IslandWake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
, New Guinea; and Hollandia in early November, and after embarking more cargo and passengers at Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester is a headland, in the northwest of the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . During World War II, the Japanese captured New Britain, and had driven most of Cape Gloucester's native population out to construct two airfields...
, New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
, reached Manus 21 December. She sailed for Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
31 December and, after witnessing a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
crash on the carrier and numerous attacks on other ships off Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, reached her destination 9 January 1945 as part of the D-day invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
Discharging men and equipment, the ship sailed at once for Leyte, Manus, and Wake Island, loaded the 33rd Infantry Division at the latter port, and debarked it at Lingayen Gulf 10 February. Subsequently steaming to Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
she embarked Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
reinforcements destined for Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
and closed that island 18 March. Loading veterans, she sailed for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, steaming under the Golden Gate 22 April 1945 to commence repairs.
A round-trip voyage out of San Francisco brought seabees from Port Hueneme to Okinawa from 30 May-15 August 1945.
After hostilities
As part of the Magic-Carpet fleet, George F. Elliott subsequently made three more round trips from San Francisco, respectively to Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, and KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, from 27 August 1945 to 18 January 1946, and her return to Seattle. Underway for Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
14 February, she touched there 1 March and soon sailed for Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
where she put in 3 April 1946 via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
.
Decommissioning
Decommissioned there 10 June 1946, she was delivered to the War Shipping AdministrationWar Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
the next day and struck from the Navy List
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
19 June 1946.
Commercial service
George F. Elliott was sold to Farrell LinesFarrell Lines
Farrell lines Incorporated was named in 1948 after James A. Farrell Jr., and John J. Farrell, sons of James A Farrell Sr., president of US Steel. The company was previously known as American South African Lines . It was a passenger/cargo line in regular service from New York to South Africa...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1948 and renamed African Endeavor. She was scrapped in 1972.