U.S.S. Gen. William O. Darby
T-AP-127
1950
(Solent SOM-19)
- Class: Admiral -- 8 transports of 1944
- Displacement: 17,000 tons
- Dimensions: 609' x 75'6" x 26'6"
- Machinery: Turbo-electric, twin screw, 18,000 SHP = 19 knots
- Troops: 4,000
- Complement: 367
- Builder: Bethlehem Steel Co, Alameda, California
- Laid down: 15 Jun 1944
- Launched: 4 Jan 1945
- Commissioned: 27 Sep 1945
- Notes: Built as Admiral W. S. Sims for the US Navy, the last of eight sister ships of type P2-SE2-R1. Delivered as AP-127, making her maiden voyage in Oct 1945. Handed over to the US Army 21 Jun 1946; renamed Gen. William O. Darby in 1947. Placed in Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) 1 Mar 1950. Service to the Far East, Mediterranean, and 135 voyages from New York to Southampton and Bremerhaven between 1956-65. Then service to Vietnam until 1968, when she was placed in reserve. Towed from the James River to the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1981 to serve as a barracks and accommodation ship IX-510. Returned to the James River reserve fleet in 1991 and scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 2005.
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