Class before:	President Jackson President Jackson class attack transport The President Jackson-class attack transport was a class of US Navy attack transport that saw service in World War II.Like all attack transports, the purpose of the President Jackson class was to transport troops and their equipment to hostile shores, and once there to execute amphibious invasions...
Class after:	Arthur Middleton Arthur Middleton class attack transport The Arthur Middleton-class attack transport was a class of US Navy attack transport that saw most of its service in World War II. Ships of the class were named after signatories of the American Declaration of Independence....

USS John Penn (APA-23) was a John Penn-class attack transport

Attack transport

Attack Transport is a United States Navy ship classification.-History:In the early 1940s, as the United States Navy expanded in response to the threat of involvement in World War II, a number of civilian passenger ships and some freighters were acquired, converted to transports and given hull...

 that served with the US Navy during 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...

. Named after John Penn

John Penn (delegate)

John Penn was a signer of both the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of North Carolina. Penn was distantly related to William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania....

, a signatory to the American Declaration of Independence, she was the only ship in her class.

The ship was initially launched as Excambion in 1931 by the New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey

The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

 as one of American Export Lines's original "Four Aces." She was acquired by the Navy 8 January 1942; and commissioned 6 April 1942, Captain Harry W. Need in command.

Invasion of North Africa

After fitting out and training, John Penn began preparations for what was to be one of the largest overseas expeditions ever undertaken, Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

, the North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

n Invasion. From 4 to 16 October 1942, John Penn loaded Army equipment, cargo, and troops, then topped off with fuel. She sortied from Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 23 October with Admiral Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force.

As a unit of Rear Admiral Monroe Kelly's Northern Attack Group she arrived 8 November in the transport area off Mehdia, Western Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, where she began landing troops and putting cargo ashore. Although hampered by heavy surf and fire from enemy shore batteries

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

, she unloaded with efficiency and dispatch. At 1053 an enemy aircraft attacked John Penn, but her after batteries quickly splashed the intruder. On 15 November she departed for Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, arrived that same day, and unloaded the remainder of her cargo. She sailed for 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....

 17 November arriving the 30th.

Two of her fellow Aces, AP-50 Joseph Hewes (formerly Excalibur) and AP-52 Edward Rutledge (formerly Exeter) were sunk by U-boats during Operation Torch.

Guadalcanal campaign

John Penn departed Norfolk 17 December for deployment to the Pacific, arriving 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...

 via the Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

 18 January 1943. She departed New Caledonia 24 January; and touching at Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

 3 days later, got underway to pick up survivors from Chicago, sunk off 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...

 29 January. In all, she received 1,003 men and 63 officers, including Captain R. C. Davis, the lost cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

's commanding offlcer. After debarking her grateful passengers at Noumea

Nouméa

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, she spent the next 6 months delivering supplies, equipment, and troops to Guadalcanal from the New Hebrides

New Hebrides

New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...

, the Fiji Islands and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Reclassified APA-23 on 1 February 1943, she continued to bring supplies and troops into this bitterly contested island.

Torpedoed and sunk

On 13 August John Penn had just finished unloading a cargo of 155-mm ammunition off Lunga Point

Lunga Point

Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field....

, Guadalcanal. At 2120 she came under attack by enemy torpedo planes. Three minutes later, when the transport took one of the planes under fire, the plane burst into flames and crashed into her mainmast. About that same instant a torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 from another plane hit the ship. Despite vigorous efforts to save her, John Penn went down stern first at 2150. Approximately 35 survivors were rescued by a 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...

 coastal transport vessel, the USS APc-25

USS APc-25

USS APc-25 was a United States Navy APc-1 class coastal transport vessel. It was assigned to the Pacific in World War II where it transported supplies, personnel and munitions around the islands in the Southern Solomon Islands...

, whose commanding officer was Navy Lieutenant John D. Cartano

John D. Cartano

John Daniel Cartano was an American lawyer.-Early life:Cartano was born on April 4, 1909 in Seattle, Washington to Daniel A. and Margaret Cartano. He graduated from West Seattle High School in 1926 where he was honored as a commencement speaker and 3-year letterman in tennis and golf...

. At the time of the torpedoing, Captain Harry William Need (later Rear Admiral) commanded USS John Penn.
In her naval service, the transport had played a key role in the assault and occupation of French Morocco and contributed greatly to the struggle for Guadalcanal. In war there are always losses, but John Penns crew, reassigned to other ships, took part in later decisive naval victories.

Diving the Wreck

The John Penn is a popular dive site in Honiara. The wreck lies on its starboard side with the port hull in about 36 metres of water. The sand under the starboard side is about 56 metres. There is often strong currents on the wreck so care needs to be taken when diving here.