USS General W. H. Gordon (AP-117)
USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117)
in San Francisco Bay, October 1967 |
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS General W. H. Gordon |
| Namesake: | General Walter Henry Gordon, US Army |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock |
| Laid down: | 2 November 1943 |
| Launched: | 7 May 1944 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs Leslie J. McNair |
| Commissioned: |
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| Recommissioned: | May 1961 |
| Decommissioned: | Apr 1970 |
| Reclassified: | T-AP-117 (November 1951) |
| Struck: | Three times: 1946, 1958 and March 1986 |
| Identification: |
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| Honors and awards: |
Four service stars for Korean War service and two for the Vietnam War |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1987, Taiwan |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | General John Pope-class transport |
| Displacement: | 11,450 tons (lt) |
| Tons burthen: | 20,175 tons fully laden |
| Length: | 622 feet 7 inches (189.76 m) |
| Beam: | 75 feet 6 inches (23.01 m) |
| Draft: | 25 feet 6 inches (7.77 m) |
| Installed power: | 17,000 shp |
| Propulsion: | 2 steam turbines, reduction gearing, twin screw |
| Speed: | 20.6 to 21 knots (38.2 to 38.9 km/h) (sources vary) |
| Capacity: | 4,244 |
| Complement: | 533 |
| Armament: | 4 x single 5"/38 caliber dual purpose guns, 4 x quad 1.1" guns, replaced by 20 x single 20mm guns |
USS General W. H. Gordon (AP-117) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, she was transferred to the US Army and served as USAT General W. H. Gordon. With the outbreak of the Korean War, she was reacquired by the Navy as a civilian-manned Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) vessel, and redesignated USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117). She served again under the same designation in the Vietnam War.
General W. H. Gordon was launched under Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, 7 May 1944; and commissioned, after being acquired by the Navy, 29 June 1944, Captain R. E. Wood, USCG, in command.
Following her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay, General W. H. Gordon proceeded to Boston and sailed 5 September in convoy for France. She arrived Cherbourg with troop reinforcements 15 September and returned to New York via Plymouth 30 September 1944.
Subsequently, the transport made 12 voyages to various European and African ports in support of the accelerating Allied effort against the Axis. She carried supplies, troops, and took large numbers of German prisoners of war to the United States.
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