USS Rixey (APH-3) was a casualty evacuation transport ship in 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...

 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...

.

Rixey was built by the Moore Dry Dock Company

Moore Dry Dock Company

Moore Dry Dock Company was a ship repair and shipbuilding company in Oakland, California. It was started in San Francisco in 1905 as the Moore & Scott Iron Works, but was destroyed by fire in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It reopened soon and in 1909 purchased the Boole Shipyard in Oakland....

, Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

. 11,500 tons. 450 x 62 x 23.6. 18 knots. Her keel was laid as Alcoa Cruiser (MC Hull 177) 3 June 1941 and intended for use as a bauxite and passenger ship for the Alcoa Steamship Company.

Rixey was launched on 30 December 1941; sponsored by Miss Betty Hammond; and designated for Navy use and assigned the name Rixey after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. Acquired by the Navy 30 December 1942; and commissioned the same day, Captain Allen Hobbs in command. With a complement of 460, and a troop capacity of 1,166 or a bed capacity of 700, Rixey was named in honor of Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey

Presley Marion Rixey

Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey was a Surgeon General of the United States Navy and personal physician to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.-Biography:...

, MC, USN.

The USS Rixey saw much combat throughout its deployment in the Second World War. Unlike traditional hospital ships, the Rixey was fitted with weapons for her defense, this allowed her to operate just off of the beaches where Marines engaged Japanese forces. The Rixey's ability to be in harms way gave wounded troops more expedient access to medical care.

Decommissioned 27 March 1946 after three years and three months active commission; returned to the Maritime Commission and simultaneously transferred to the Army Transportation Service on 9 September 1946. Converted to a transport ship and renamed Private William H. Thomas on 31 October 1947. Following the establishment of a unified sea transportation service, she was returned to the Navy on 1 March 1950 and designated T-AP-185. Transferred to the Maritime Administration’s 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...

, Rixey was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval 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 27 December 1957. She was later sold to the Tung Ho Enterprise Corporation, Taiwan.