USS Wharton (AP-7)
_underway_in_San_Francisco_Bay_on_23_August_1943_(NH_102894).jpg) |
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: |
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| Namesake: | Franklin Wharton |
| Laid down: | 8 October 1918 |
| Launched: | 20 July 1919 |
| Completed: | 24 September 1921 |
| Acquired: | 8 November 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 7 December 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | 26 March 1947 |
| Struck: | 4 April 1947 |
| Honors and awards: |
3 battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping, 21 March 1952 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Design 1029 ship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 636 ft 2 in (193.90 m) |
| Beam: | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Draft: | 31 ft 3 in (9.53 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbine |
| Speed: | 16.6 knots (30.7 km/h; 19.1 mph) |
| Complement: | 666 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Wharton (AP-7) was a troop transport in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was originally an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 type built for the United States Shipping Board as Sea Girt and allocated to the Munson Steamship Line as the cargo liner on the line's South American route. The ship was renamed Southern Cross before delivery in 1921.Southern Cross operated in the South American trade from 1921 until 1939.
Southern Cross was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 8 November 1939 and two days later renamed Wharton and designated a transport with the hull number AP-7. She was converted to a troop transport by the Todd Shipbuilding Corp., in the Robbins Drydock in Erie Basin at Brooklyn, New York. The transport was commissioned USS Wharton at the New York Navy Yard on 7 December 1940, Capt. Elroy L. Vanderkloot in command.
Southern Cross was allocated by the USSB to its agent, Munson Steamship Line for its South American service, operating as the Pan America Line. Munson operated the ship on the New York to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires route with Santos, added during return voyages along with sister "535's" American Legion, Pan America and Western World.
As the USSB sold off its vessels the Munson Line bought the four vessels operating for its Pan America Line service in February 1926. Each ship, including Southern Cross, was purchased for a price of $1,026,000.
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