USS Hercules (AK-41)
Encyclopedia
USS Hercules (AK-41) was an Hercules-class transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service 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...
. She was responsible for delivering necessary goods and equipment to ships and stations in the war zone.
Hercules (AK-41), ex-SS Exporter
SS Exporter
SS Exporter may refer to one of these ships built for or owned by American Export Lines: , built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding ; acquired by the United States Navy as cargo ship USS Hercules ; sold for commercial service in 1946; scrapped in 1971 , built by Bethlehem Sparrows Point;...
, was launched 18 July 1939 by the Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, for American Export Lines Inc. Acquired by the Navy 15 July 1941, she continued to be operated by civilian crews until 30 November 1942, when she commissioned at San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Comdr. W. H. Turnquist, USNR, in command.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
Departing San Francisco 18 December, Hercules reached NoumeaNouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, 6 January 1943 to discharge her cargo. She returned to San Francisco 20 February and repeated the voyage from 11 March to 5 July. Hercules sailed for 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...
6 August and reached 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...
6 days later. As flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
for Admiral Willis A. Lee
Willis A. Lee
Willis Augustus "Ching" Lee, Jr. was a Vice Admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. Lee commanded the American ships during the second night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and turned back a Japanese invasion force headed for the island...
, CTF 11, she sailed for action 25 August and on 1 September was off Baker Island
Baker Island
Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
as the Army began occupation. Remaining off Baker Island until 16 September discharging cargo, Hercules returned to 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...
and from there sailed for San Francisco.
Supporting Allied invasion forces
Taking on passengers and cargo, she sailed again for the Pacific war areas 13 October, reaching FunafutiFunafuti
Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...
, Ellice Islands, 14 November after discharging cargo at Pearl Harbor. After miscellaneous cargo trips in the southern Pacific, Hercules returned to Pearl 28 January 1944 for repairs. Two round-trips with cargo and passengers to San Francisco brought her into the summer and on 30 May she sailed with the initial invasion force for Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. Hercules reached Saipan 15 June, D-Day, and remained there discharging cargo until 24 June. Although Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
planes filled the air and attacked her several times, Hercules emerged unscathed as American forces continued to sweep across the island to Japan. Departing Saipan 24 June, she returned to Pearl Harbor and from there sailed to Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
.
Supporting the Philippine invasion forces
Hercules sailed from Guadalcanal 8 September to participate in the invasion of PeleliuPeleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
, Palau Islands, 15 September. After this hard fought operation she continued on to Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, discharged her cargo, and 13 October sailed for the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Hercules remained in the Philippines, with several trips back for supplies, for both the initial invasion of San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
20 October and the landings on Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
9 January 1945, as American forces returned victorious to the Philippines.
Supporting Iwo Jima operations
Reaching UlithiUlithi
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...
24 January 1945, Hercules embarked troops with cargo and 17 February sailed for Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. The invasion of that rugged island began 2 days later, and Hercules steamed in the retirement area until 27 February when she disembarked reserve troops on the beach and received wounded. After discharging her cargo, she remained in the Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
area until 20 March when, loaded with U.S. Marines and their equipment, she sailed for Pearl Harbor. Reaching Pearl 4 April, Hercules carried cargo to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and Eniwetok before reaching San Francisco 22 June for a much-needed overhaul.
End-of-war operations
The war in the Pacific ended while Hercules was still undergoing repairs, but she sailed west again 24 October 1945. Loading ammunition in the Philippines and the Admiralty IslandsAdmiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
, she transited the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
16 March 1946 and docked at Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, 26 March. After a brief trip up the coast to New York
New 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...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Hercules sailed to Norfolk 18 May and hauled down her commissioning pennant 28 June 1946. Hercules was transferred to the Maritime Commission 18 July. Returning to merchant service, she was renamed SS Exermont, and later SS Bostonian.
Military awards and honors
Hercules received five battle stars for World War IIWorld 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...
service:
- Marianas operation
- Western Caroline Islands operation
- Leyte operation
- Luzon operations
- Iwo Jima operation
Hercules’ crew members were eligible for the following medals:
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5)
- World War II Victory Medal
- Philippines Liberation Medal (2)