U.S.S. Wharton
AP-7
1940
(Wirral WHM-335B)
- Class: Wharton - 1 transport of 1939
- Displacement: 13,789 tons
- Dimensions: 535 x 72 x 31 ft.
- Machinery: Steam turbines, twin screws = 18 knots
- Armament: 4-5"/38 DP, 8-.50cal MG
- Troops: 2,000
- Crew: 566
- Builder: New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden, New Jersey
- Laid Down: 8 Oct 1918
- Launched: 20 Jul 1919
- Completed: 24 Sep 1921
- Commissioned: 7 Dec 1940
- Decommissioned: 26 Mar 1947
- Service: Passenger-cargo liner built for the Munson Steamship Line as Southern Cross. Operated in the South American trade until acquired by the Navy from the the Maritime Commission on 8 Nov 1939. Renamed Wharton in honor of Franklin Wharton, the third Commandant of the Marine Corps (1804-1818),
and designated AP-7. Converted to a troop transport at Todd Shipbuilding Corp, Brooklyn, New York. Served in the Pacific, transporting service personnel and their families as well as cargo. After Pearl Harbor, she made several trips evacuating dependents to the West Coast. Made many transport runs to the Southwest Pacific and to the Aleutians. She received three battle stars for her participation in the Marshall Islands operation of Jan-Feb 1944, the capture of Guam in Jul 1944, and at Okinawa in May 1945. Postwar she made three Magic Carpet trips carrying troops home, and then transported observers to the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the spring of 1946, before decommissioning in 1947.
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