2011.005

Lukacs, Claire

Gift

Museum Collections. Gift of a friend of the Museum.

1924 - 1931

Date: 1924-1931

5 in

7 in

Good

Notes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Republic_(1917) Originally christened as the SS Servian, she was built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff, Ltd. of Belfast for the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line, a subsidiary of International Mercantile Marine Co. spearheaded by J.P. Morgan. After plans for a North Atlantic service collapsed, she spent four years at anchor in the Musgrave Channel in Belfast. After being purchased by the Hamburg-American Packet Steamship Company in 1907, it was renamed the SS President Grant, the third ship named for Ulysses S. Grant. In August 1914, after seven years of trans-Atlantic passenger service, she took refuge at New York City when the outbreak of World War I made the high seas unsafe for German merchant ships. She was interned at Hoboken, New Jersey and remained inactive for nearly three years until the United States entered the war in April 1917. The ship was seized when the United States officially declared war against Germany. World War ITurned over to the Navy, she was commissioned USS President Grant (SP-3014) on 2 August 1917, Comdr. J. P. Morton in command. During her operations as a troop transport she made sixteen round trips between New York and ports of France, carrying a total of 40,104 servicemen on her eastbound passage, and a total of 37,025 servicemen on her westbound returns to New York. Between the wars United States Line's RepublicPresident Grant was transferred to the Army 6 October 1919. During the period January to November 1920, she served as the United States Army Transport Republic and made two voyages repatriating Czechoslovak troops from Siberia to Trieste. After a trip to France, she was delivered to the USSR by the Army in March 1921. Until 1924, she lay at Norfolk, Virginia and then was placed on North Atlantic passenger service with United States Lines. In 1931, she reverted to Army control as a troopship. After alterations, USAT Republic made three trips to San Francisco, Hawaii, and Manila. She later made two visits to China and one to Japan. In 1932, Far Eastern ports were excluded and she was confined to a regular New York-Honolulu run until June 1941. ------- http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-r/ap33.htm DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER 805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060 Online Library of Selected Images: -- U.S. NAVY SHIPS -- USS Republic (AP-33), 1941-1945. Also served as USAT and USAHS Republic in 1931-1941 and 1945-1946 In 1924 the inactive passenger liner Republic, which had previously been the USS President Grant and had served as a U.S. Army transport earlier in the decade, was refitted with oil-burning machinery and given a new superstructure that quite markedly changed her appearance. She was then placed in commercial operation by the United States Lines. In August 1931 Republic was transferred to the War Department and resumed service as an Army transport. For the next ten years she was mainly employed on the route from New York to Hawaii, by way of the Panama Canal and San Francisco, California, but on occasion steamed further west to deliver troops and other passengers to the Philippines, China, and Japan. The Navy took her over in July 1941, placing her in commission as USS Republic (AP-33). Later in that year she made a voyage to Iceland, then went to the Pacific, where she operated out of San Francisco to carry personnel and cargo to Hawaii, the southern Pacific and Australia. In January 1945 Republic was returned to the Army. Converted to a hospital ship, with no change in name, her re-entry into service was delayed by major repairs to her machinery, and she did not begin her next trans-Pacific trip until late 1945 or early 1946. While at sea between Honolulu and Manila in February 1946, she was once again assigned to Army transport service. With her hospital ship markings painted out, she brought war veterans home from the Philippines, arriving at San Francisco in March 1946. USAT Republic was placed in the Olympia, Washington, reserve fleet in May 1949 and sold for scrapping in March 1952. This page features, and provides links to, all the the views we have concerning USS Republic (AP-33) and the U.S. Army Transport and Hospital Ship Republic. For other images related to this ship, see: USS President Grant (ID # 3014), 1917-1919. --------------------- Original or Copy: Original Status: OK Status By: dw Status Date: 2011-12-17