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|Ship complement=666 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*4 × single [[5"/38 caliber gun]]s
*8 × [[M2 Browning|{{convert|0.5|in|mm|abbr=on|1}}]]
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|Ship notes=
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'''USS ''Wharton'' (AP-7)''' was a [[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 Line|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,
''Southern Cross'' was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 8 November 1939 and two days later renamed ''Wharton'' and designated a transport with the hull number AP-7. She was converted to a troop transport by the [[Todd Shipbuilding]] Corp., in the Robbins Drydock in Erie Basin at [[Brooklyn, New York]]. The transport was commissioned USS ''Wharton'' at the [[New York Navy Yard]] on 7 December 1940, Capt. Elroy L. Vanderkloot in command.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
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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, the transport sailed from the [[U.S. West Coast|west coast]] for her first wartime voyage to the [[Hawaiian Islands]]. A series of runs followed in which ''Wharton'' transported service families and dependents home to the west coast on her eastbound passages and troops and cargo to Hawaii on her westbound trips.{{sfn|Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wharton''}}
From June through September, ''Wharton'' made three voyages to the Southwest Pacific theater
==Invasion of the Marshall Islands==
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==Running aground at Manus==
On 29 February 1944, ''Wharton'' got underway for the [[Ellice Islands]] to embark the 11th Naval [[Construction Battalion]]
''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''}}
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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''}}
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''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''}}
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==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/munson.htm |title=Munson Line |last=Larsson |first=Björn |date=
*{{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 |last=Villard |first=Harold G. (Ed.) |year=1921 |title=U. S. Passenger Liners Are Given New Names |journal=The Nautical Gazette |volume=100 |issue=4 June
{{refend}}
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