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USS General William Weigel (AP-119)
Encyclopedia
USS General William Weigel (AP-117) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war, she was acquired by the US Army and became USAT General William Weigel. On the outbreak of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and designated USNS General William Weigel (T-AP-119), a designation she retained for her later service in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
AP-119 was laid down under Maritime Commission contract 15 March 1944 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
; named General C. H. Barth (AP-119) on 15 April 1944; renamed General William Weigel 24 August 1944; launched 3 September 1944; acquired by the Navy 4 January 1945; and commissioned at Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
, 6 January 1945, Captain Thomas Y. Awalt, USCG, in command.
World War II
General William Weigel sailed from New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
11 February 1945 with 5,000 rotation troops; and, after delivering them safely to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, embarked American and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
veterans at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and returned to New York 19 April. Underway again 1 May with Navy men bound for Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, the troopship touched at San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
to debark them and to take on 5,000 Army fighting men for passage to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
As General William Weigel was steaming toward Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, one of her passengers became critically ill. To save his life, strict radio silence was broken to arrange a mid-ocean rendezvous with a seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
out of Balboa
Balboa, Panama
Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...
. He was transferred to the seaplane 19 May and flown to a hospital; General William Weigel reached Honolulu 6 days later.
This far ranging ship sailed 28 May for Marseilles to embark 5,000 soldiers and transferred them to Eniwetok and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
to take part in the climactic Pacific battles. Subsequently she loaded passengers at Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
and returned via Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
to moor at San Pedro, California, 25 August 1945.
After hostilities
As part of the Magic Carpet fleet, she stood out from San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
11 September with rotation troops for Pearl Harbor and returned to San Francisco 24 September with 5,000 veterans. From 6 October 1945 to 8 February 1946, she made three round-trip trans-Pacific voyages (two out of San Francisco and the third from Seattle) to bring occupation troops to Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
.
Following a Magic Carpet voyage to Manila and back to San Francisco 11 April 1946, the transport departed San Francisco 16 April for New York, arriving 1 May. Decommissioned there 10 May 1946, she was transferred to the War Department for peacetime operations as an Army transport and made shuttle runs with troops and supplies from San Francisco to garrisons in the Pacific until reacquired by the Navy 20 July 1950. General William Weigel was assigned to MSTS 1 August 1950, and redesignated USNS General William Weigel (T-AP-119).
Korean War
During this phase of her career, the ship sailed from the Pacific coast to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
carrying troops for duty in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. She continued to rotate American troops to strengthen the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
position in Korea until she was placed in Reduced Operational Status in 1955.
General William Weigel was returned to the Maritime Commission 12 June 1958 and entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet
National Defense Reserve Fleet
The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...
at Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
.
Vietnam War
She was reacquired by the Navy 18 August 1965 and assigned to MSTS as the Navy bolstered its support forces for the Vietnam War. On 9 December 1965 she departed U.S. Army Oakland California Terminal with elements of the 20th Engineer Battalion arriving at Cam Ranh Bay on 1 January 1966. She departed U.S. Naval Base San Diego on 18 February 1966 with elements of 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, arriving at U.S. Naval Base Pearl Harbor Hawaii on 5 March. The following day she was boarded by elements of the 25th Infantry Division at Pearl Harbor and departed on 6 March. The USNS Weigel disembarked U.S. Army troops at the port of Vung Tau on 12 March and two days later U.S. Marines at Da Nang on 14 March 1966. On 28 September 1966 she departed the U.S. Army Oakland California terminal carrying various units of the 54th Transportation Battalion including the 523rd Transportation Company. On 20 October 1966, elements of the 585th Transportation Group disembarked at Cam Ranh Bay. Three days later, on 23 October 1966, the 523rd Transportation Company disembarked in Qui Nhon harbor. On 21 March 1967, the Weigle landed the 6th Battalion, 32nd Artillery in Qui Nhon. On one of her final voyages the Weigel departed U.S. Army Oakland California Terminal on 3 October 1967 with elements of the 324th Signal Brigade and 3rd Battalion 506th Infantry 101st Airborne Division, disembarking at Cam Ranh Bay on 26 October 1967. She carried troops to the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
from 1965 through 1967.
Personal Account
I boarded the ship in Oakland on 9 Dec. as part of the 135th Aviation Co. We proceeded to San Diego. (where I was born, 11/25/1944). We picked up a Battalion of Marines from Camp Pendleton in N. San Diego County. We were on the 4th deck down in the forward starboard side of the ship. As in WWII movies the bunks were 6 high and from both sides of poles, there was about a ft. between me and the next guy up. Two weeks and a couple days we were hit by a Force 5 Typhoon and it was batten down the hatches! The toilets would not flush and there was no drinking water, there was a 16" pipe on the starboard bulkhead with a valve with what looked like a 18" steering wheel, every time the ship listed to the starboard side salt water spayed in, the floor had about 4 to 6 inches of water slashing about. The only thing they brought us were 4 or 5 5 gallon buckets to use as toilets. I had grown up with boats and never got sea sick but with about 80 guys who did throw-up the stink made me sick also. The storm lasted a whole week with no fresh air and the ship was run by the Merchant Marines not the Navy and in talking to them before the storm they had already told us that when the ship was taken out of mothballs they were not given sufficient time for sea trials to make all necessary repairs before we departed! I don't know if the ship was actually in any danger but it might have been. After the storm we were told that of the 4 refrigeration unit 2 had failed and as much fruit and vegetables would need to be eaten before they when bad. Yet much was thrown overboard as I could see. And as we approached Okinawa, which is very Catholic and the Port at Naha was closed for Christmas, we had a day and a half at 8 knots which was what the Merchant Marines said was the minimum speed to maintain steerage for the ship. We reached Qui Nhon late night and unloaded on New Years Day 1966! Not in agreement with your information, but I was there, ewe got an orange for Christmas Day! Hopefully you can update the info above. Lloyd Vaughan, a Viet Nam Vet with Prostrate Cancer directly attributed to Agent Orange and the VA pays me 10% benefits. instead of those I should legally be entitled to!!Final decommission
General William Weigel was placed out of service and struck from the Naval RegisterNaval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 31 March 1986. She was sold for scrapping on 10 April 1987 for the sum of $1,005,050, and scrapped in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
later that year.