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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AK-41 Hercules

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Hercules Class Cargo Ship
  • Laid down (date unknown) as SS Exporter a Maritime Commission type (C3-E) hull under Maritime Commission contract at Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, MA. for American Export Lines
  • Launched, 18 July 1939
  • Acquired by the Navy, 15 July 1941
  • Commissioned USS Hercules (AK-41), 30 November 1942, CDR. W. H. Turnquist, USNR, in command
  • During WWII Hercules was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 to 24 June 1944     		Luzon operations
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945
    Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands-Peleliu, 15 September 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 27 February 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, San Pedro Bay, 20 October 1944     		.

  • Decommissioned, 28 June 1946 at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 18 July 1946, for disposal
  • Final Disposition, returned to American Export Lines, renamed SS Exermont
  • Sold (date unknown), renamed SS Bostonian
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1958
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1971
  • Hercules received five battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,150 t.(lt)
    Length 473' 1"
    Beam 66'
    Draft 27' 2"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 129
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    Propulsion (system type unknown), single screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Hercules 87k Aft starboard quarter view of Hercules (AK-41) off San Francisco, 10 December 1942.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7674-12-42, 12/10/42.    		 Darryl Baker
    Hercules 86k Broadside view of Hercules (AK-41) off San Francisco, 10 December 1942.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7675-12-42, 12/10/42.    		 Darryl Baker
    Hercules 94k Hercules (AK-41) underway in 1943, location unknown.
    US Navy photo # 19-N-39847 from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Hercules 56k Bow on view of Hercules (AK-41) in the Mare Island channel, 27 September 1945. Hercules under repairs at the yard from 22 June to 22 September 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 6689-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Hercules 107k Broadside view of Hercules (AK-41) off Mare Island, 27 September 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 6691-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Hercules 59k Stern view of Hercules (AK-41) off Mare Island, 27 September 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 6693-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    View the Hercules (AK-41)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 11 May 2007