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m Llammakey moved page USS Wharton (AP-7) to USS Wharton without leaving a redirect: per WP:NC-SHIPS, only ship of name, no need for disambiguation |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Wharton
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name=
*''Southern Cross''
*''Wharton''
|Ship namesake=[[Franklin Wharton]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=8 October 1918
|Ship launched=20 July 1919{{sfn|Priolo|2020}}
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
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|Ship honors=3 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping, 21 March 1952
|Ship notes=U.S. [[Official Number]]: 221574{{sfn|Maritime Administration}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|12250|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|21900|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full |Ship length={{convert|636|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|72|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=666 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=
*8 × [[M2 Browning|{{convert|0.5|in|mm|abbr=on|1}}]] [[machine gun]]s
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Wharton'' (AP-7)''' was a [[Troopship|troop transport]] in the service of the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. The ship was originally an [[Emergency Fleet Corporation]] Design 1029 type built for the [[United States Shipping Board]]. The ship was laid down as '''''Manmasco''''' but renamed and launched as '''''Sea Girt''''' then completed September 1921 as '''''Southern Cross'''''.<ref name=McK>{{cite web |url=http://www.shipscribe.com/mckellar/Contract3.pdf |title=Contract Steel Ships, Part III |last=McKellar |first=Norman L. |work=Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921 |publisher=ShipScribe |access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> The ship was first allocated by the United States Shipping Board to the [[Munson Steamship Line]] until purchased by the line in 1925.<ref name=McK/> Munson operated the ''Southern Cross'' in the South American trade from 1921 until 1938 when the ship was sold at a Marshall's sale and taken over by the [[United States Maritime Commission]] which paid the full mortgage claim.<ref name=McK/>{{sfn|Maritime Administration}}{{sfn|United States Shipping Board|1926|p=89}}{{sfn|Villard: The Nautical Gazette, 4 June 1921|p=732}}
==Commercial service==
''Southern Cross'' was allocated by the USSB to its agent, Munson Steamship Line for its South American service, operating as the Pan America Line.{{sfn|United States Shipping Board|1926|p=89}} Munson operated the ship on the New York to Rio de Janeiro, [[Montevideo]] and [[Buenos Aires]] route with [[Santos, São Paulo|Santos]], added during return voyages along with sister "535's" {{SS|American Legion|1919|2}}, {{SS|Pan America||2}} and [[USS Leonard Wood (APA-12)|''Western World'']].{{sfn|Larsson: Maritime Timetable Images}}
As the USSB sold off its vessels the Munson Steamship Line bought the four vessels operating for its Pan America Line service in February 1926.{{sfn|United States Shipping Board|1926|p=89}} Each ship, including ''Southern Cross'', was purchased for a price of $1,026,000.{{sfn|United States Shipping Board|1926|p=92}}
==World War II Pacific Theatre operations==
''Wharton'' departed [[Brooklyn]] on 7 January 1941, bound for [[Guantanamo Bay, Cuba]], where she conducted [[sea trial|shakedown]] before proceeding on through the [[Panama Canal]] to her home port, [[Mare Island, California]]. Assigned to the [[Naval Transportation Service]], ''Wharton'' transported service personnel and their families, as well as cargo, on triangular runs from [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], and [[Pearl Harbor]]. She also made one trip to [[Midway Island]].{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
==First wartime operations==
When the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] struck Pearl Harbor, [[Hawaii]], on 7 December 1941, ''Wharton'' was undergoing overhaul at the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]], [[Vallejo, California]]. On 6 January 1942,
From June through September, ''Wharton'' made three voyages to the Southwest Pacific theater
==Invasion of the Marshall Islands==
In January 1944, ''Wharton'' joined Transport Division 30 for the [[Marshall Islands]] operation. Equipped with seven manned [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]]'s, ''Wharton'' sortied from Pearl Harbor in [[Task force|Task Group]] 51.1 on 23 January 1944, bound for [[Kwajalein]] and [[Eniwetok]], with 526 Army Headquarters troops embarked. The group operated off the island of [[Bigej]] in Kwajalein [[Atoll]] from 31 January to 2 February, during the shore bombardment phase of the operation and the initial landings, before moving into the [[lagoon]] and anchoring there on 2 February.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
''Wharton'' remained in the lagoon until she headed for Eniwetok on the 15th. Following her arrival there two days later, the troop transport, while disembarking her troops and unloading her cargo, took on additional duty as a hospital ship. She received on board 85 patients for treatment and subsequently transferred them all to other facilities prior to sailing for Kwajalein on 25 February.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}▼
▲''Wharton'' remained in the lagoon until she headed for Eniwetok on the 15th. Following her arrival there two days later, the troop transport, while disembarking her troops and unloading her cargo, took on additional duty as a hospital ship. She received on board 85 patients for treatment and subsequently transferred them all to other facilities prior to sailing for Kwajalein on 25 February.
==Running aground at Manus==
On 29 February 1944, ''Wharton'' got underway for the [[Ellice Islands]] to embark the 11th
''Wharton'' later transported 1,782 men of the Royal [[New Zealand Army]] from [[Green Island, Papua New Guinea|Green Island]] to Nouméa before sailing for Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal. At the latter island
She got underway for [[Guam]] on 12 June and spent 17 days at sea before returning to Kwajalein, because fierce Japanese resistance on [[Saipan]] had forced [[Chester W. Nimitz|Admiral Nimitz]] to postpone American landings on Guam. Underway again on 17 July, the transport made landfall off Guam four days later and soon disembarked her assault troops. That night, she retired to sea until midnight, when she reversed course to return to the beachhead for her role as casualty evacuation ship.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
==Assisting the wounded at Guam==
On the day that followed, she continued this pattern of operations. Although not designed for such work, ''Wharton'' performed yeoman service off the beaches. Two of the ship's [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] were kept ready in their [[davit]]s for instant deployment, and [[Litter (rescue basket)|litters]] containing casualties were brought alongside in [[landing craft]] and transferred to these boats which were then hoisted up to the [[promenade deck]] level to be rushed to emergency dressing stations in the passenger officers' [[wardroom]] spaces. During the landing operations, some 723 patients were logged into ''Wharton's'' [[sick bay]], most of them coming on board by way of this improvised "lifeboat elevator."{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
Operating in company with {{USS|Rixey|APH-3}}, ''Wharton'' returned to the transport area each morning for eight successive days to receive casualties and send an occasional beach party ashore. These latter groups worked on the off-shore [[reef]], unloading supplies and [[ammunition]] from [[Landing Craft Mechanized|LCM]]'s
Following the Marianas operation, ''Wharton'' returned to the [[United States]], reaching San Francisco on 25 August. After two months of repairs, the ship resumed her transport duties and made a voyage to Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, and Nouméa before returning to the United States late in the year.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
==Supporting Invasion of the Philippines==
On 7 January 1945, ''Wharton'' got underway for the [[Philippine Islands]], carrying troops and cargo in support of the operations to wrest the islands from the Japanese. She disembarked 1,386 troops and 131 tons of cargo at [[Samar]] on 14 February and, two days later, unloaded 134 tons of cargo and 869 more troops at [[Leyte]] Island. Underway for home on the 17th, the transport stopped at [[Ulithi]] before pressing on eastward and arriving at San Francisco on 12 March.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
==Supporting the Okinawa invasion==
''Wharton'' next participated in the operations against [[Okinawa]], arriving offshore on 19 May. The transport soon disembarked 2,118 troops (including 30 Army [[nurse]]s) in LCM's sent from shore, as ''Wharton'' ordinarily carried no landing craft of her own. Several times, the ship went to [[general quarters]] and was screened by smoke, but she emerged from the campaign unscathed by [[kamikazes]] that had taken such a dreadful toll from American ships. On 22 May, the transport departed for the [[Caroline Islands]], with 273 troops and 29 casualties embarked, and arrived at Ulithi on the 28th.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
''Wharton'' took part in no further combat operations and returned home
==End-of-War activities==
Hostilities had then ended, but the gigantic job of returning troops from the far-flung bases and islands nonetheless remained. ''Wharton'' conducted three voyages to the western Pacific
==Bikini Atoll A-Bomb testing==
In the spring of 1946, ''Wharton'' participated in "[[Operation Crossroads]]"
''Wharton'' was awarded three battle stars for her World War II service.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}▼
==Post-War deactivation and decommissioning==
The transport returned to the United States on 28 January, when she made port at San Francisco prior to heading north to Seattle, Washington, and arrived there on 9 February 1947. On 11 March, the [[Secretary of the Navy]] declared ''Wharton'' "surplus to Navy needs" and accordingly authorized her disposal. Decommissioned on 26 March 1947, ''Wharton'' was
The ship, evaluated as in very poor condition with one engine having a broken reduction gear and reported leaks in the forepeak, entered U.S. Maritime Commission custody on 27 March 1947 at Olympia, Washington. The hull was sold for $368,426 to Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation in bids opened 1 February 1952 and withdrawn from the reserve fleet for scrapping on 21 March 1952.{{sfn|Maritime Administration}}
▲''Wharton'' was awarded three battle stars for her World War II service
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/munson.htm |title=Munson Line |last=Larsson |first=Björn |date=15 November 2009 |work=Maritime Timetable Images |publisher=Björn Larsson |access-date=9 August 2015 |ref={{sfnref|Larsson: Maritime Timetable Images}}}}
*{{cite web |url=https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4611 |title=Southern Cross |author=Maritime Administration |work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration |access-date=12 February 2021}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wharton.html |title=''Wharton'' |author=Naval History And Heritage Command |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History And Heritage Command |access-date=10 August 2015 |ref={{sfnref|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}}}
*{{cite web |last=Priolo |first=Gary P. |title=USS Wharton (AP-7) |publisher=NavSource Online |date= 27 March 2020 |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22007.htm |access-date=12 February 2021}}
*{{cite book |last=United States Shipping Board |year=1926 |title=Tenth Annual Report of the United States Shipping Board |location=Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izEwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA89 |access-date=19 August 2015 }}
*{{cite journal |editor-last=Villard |editor-first=Harold G. |year=1921 |title=U. S. Passenger Liners Are Given New Names |journal=The Nautical Gazette |volume=100 |issue=4 June 1921 |page=732 |location=New York |publisher=The Nautical Gazette, Inc. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYk9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA732 |access-date=10 August 2015 |ref={{sfnref|Villard: The Nautical Gazette, 4 June 1921}}}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
* {{navsource|09/22/22007|USS Wharton}}
* [https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/cards/51a317e7-71b8-4336-b9b0-446bf4e81241.jpg "Declaration of Surplus Personal Property to Disposal Agency" (1947 Navy declaration to USMC with ship particulars)]
* [https://archive.org/stream/literarydigest72newy#page/n588/mode/1up Rio de Janeiro is Now Only 11 Days Away] (United States Shipping Board advertisement/Munson Steamship Line's advertisement with ship description)
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