General W A Mann (AP 112) - Naval Cruise Book

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I 1 HE U.S.S. GENERAL W. A. MANN fAP112l is a 623 foot, 20,000 ton Navy transport, easily recognized by her two high tear-drop shaped stacks and her graceful clipper bow. With- out refueling or reprovisioning she is capable of carrying better than 5,500 people half-way around the world at a cruising speed of 20 knots. In twenty-two months of wartime service she trans- ported almost 100,000 passengers more than 186,000 nautical miles, on missions that took her to every continent and into almost every large body of water on the face of the earth. The Mann was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry- dock Company at Kearny, New Iersey, under the cognizance of the United States Maritime Commission. The blueprints identify her as U. S. N. C. Hull 270, Type P2, S2, R2. She was the third of a class of ten ships built by Federal to meet the expanding needs of the transportation service. Known as the General class, these ships have become a familiar sight to soldiers and sailors all over the world. 4 The Mann was launched on luly 18, 1943 at the Kearny Yard. She was christened by Mrs. Robert P. Patterson, wife of the Acting Secretary of War, in honor of General William A. Mann, organ- izer and first commander of the famous 42nd Rainbow Division of World War I. Present at the ceremony were Acting Secretary of War Patterson, Lt. General Brehon B. Sommervell, Command- ing General, Army Service Forces: and Brigadier General Iohn M. Franklin, Services of Transportation, U. S. Army. After completion and acceptance by the Maritime Commis- sion, the Mann was turned over to the Navy. On October 13, 1943 she was placed in temporary commission under the com- mand of Commander Robert Hall Smith, USN. On October 17th Captain Hall and a Navy pre-commissioning crew sailed her from New York to the Maryland Drydock Company Yard at Baltimore for conversion and outfitting in accordance with Navy require- ments. Upon arrival at Baltimore she was placed out of commis- sion pending completion of the conversion period. On November 16, 1943 the U.S.S. General W. A. Mann was placed in full commission as a Navy ship. In a simple ceremony at the Maryland Drydock Company Yard Commander Paul S. Maguire, USNR, took command, and a full Navy crew came aboard. It takes a lot of work to put a new ship into commission, es- pecially when three-quarters of her crew have never been to sea before. Only the plank owners, the men who made up the original ship's company, know how much it cost in extra hours and in back-breaking labor to mold an efficient organization out of 500 odd personalities first assigned to the ship. Long before the commissioning date the nucleus of the crew had been assem- bled. During the following weeks officers and men were sent to every available training school, the ship's organization book and battle bill were prepared, gun crews and damage control parties organized, watch, quarter, and station bills drawn up. Finally, on December 9th, she started a rugged shake-down cruise in Chesapeake Bay, and before Christmas of 1943 she was in all respects ready for sea.

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On December 24, 1943 the U.S.S. General W. A. Mann re- ported to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commander-in- Chief of the U.S. Fleet for duty in the Naval Transportation Serv- ice. On December 29 she sailed on her first mission from Newport News, Virginia, to Casablanca, French Morocco. She had 5,281 troops aboard. Since then, except for necessary periods of over- haul and repair, she has been in continual service as a Navy Transport. During the period from December 29, 1943 to October 8, 1945 she compiled a total of 641,000,000 passenger miles. The Mann was primarily designed as a troop carrier and during the war was operated in accordance with the needs of the Army. Due to this fact, a permanent Army staff was attached to the ship, consisting of an Army Troop Commander and his staff of approximately ll officers and men. This organization handled passenger berthing and messing assignments details of embarka tion and debarkation and the many administrative duties involved in handling transient personnel The travels of the Mann closely parallel the progress of the war During most of 1944 she operated in the Atlantic carrying troops to Africa then to Europe In the fall of 44 as the campaign against Iapan gathered momentum she moved on to India via the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal returning to the West Coast via Australia and New Guinea After a second trip to Aus heels of the advancing American forces Finally she returned to the Atlantic by way of the Panama Canal to load troops at Mar seilles for redeployment to the Pacific With these troops aboard she was on her way to Okinawa when the war ended Although the Mann has been primarily a troop carrier she has at times doubled as a hospital ship a prison ship and a pas senger hner From Milne Bay New Guinea she brought back a shipload of ambulatory and litter patients and on every return voyage to the States her sick bay has been filled with the sick and the wounded. She carried Italian prisoners of War from Mers-el-Kebir, Africa, to Liverpool, England, and the crews of several captured German submarines from Casablanca to the States. She carried Australian war brides Cand babiesl from Brisbane to Los Angeles. In addition to army personnel the Mann has carried a varied assortment of military and civilian passengers. There have been refugees from almost every conquered European country, and representatives from practically all allied governments in exile. There have been Free French and Polish fliers and Chinese Army and Navy cadets. There have been war correspondents, U.S.O. troupes, Red Cross girls, Army and Navy nurses, Indian scientists, internees from Santo Tomas prison in Manila, prison- ers from Bataan, Australian diggers, British Tommies, Scotch Highlanders Possibly the Mann s proudest moment was when she carried the first echelon of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force from Rio de Ianeiro to Naples Italy Besides being of military importance, this mission was highly significant from a diplomatic point of view Our government was anxious to show concrete evidence of her friendship for her South American ally, and the Mann likes to think that she was specially selected to do the job. The ship was carefully groomed inside and out, and all signs and posted instructions were duplicated in Portuguese, the Bra- zilian national language For liaison purposes the Brazilian gov- ernment assigned to the ship three English-speaking officers of the Brazilian Navy who stood watch and watch with our own Offi- cers ofthe Deck The Brazilian troops were accompanied by a number of American Army officers who had lived and trained with them for many months Despite German assurances that the Brazilian Force would never reach Italy, this voyage and a subse- quent one in company with the U.S.S. General M. C. Meigs tralia and India she carried troops to the Philippines close on the - - -