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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USAPRS Madison Jordan Manchester
ex
 USS Hydra (AK-82) (1943)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

USS Hydra (AK-82) was manned by the US Coast Guard
Enceladus Class Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, date unknown, as MV Eben H. Linnell, a Maritime Commission type (N3-M-A1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract, (MC hull 465), at Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.
  • Acquired by the US Navy from the Maritime Commission, 1 January 1943
  • Launched, 23 January 1943
  • Commissioned, USS Hydra (AK-82), 25 September 1943, LT. E. F. McCotter, USCGR, in command
  • Decommissioned, 19 November 1943, and transferred to the US Army Transportation Service the same day
  • Allocated to the US Army Corps of Engineers
  • Renamed USAPRS Madison Jordan Manchester, conversion to a a Port Rehabilitation Ship completed circa June 1944 at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc., Baltimore, MD.
  • Madison Jordan Manchester served as a Corps of Engineers port repair ship until her transfer to the Maritime Commission in 1947
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 20 August 1947 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 24 May 1994, to Global Marketing System Inc. for $11,000.00, withdrawn from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 20 August 1947
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,677 t.(lt), 5,200 t.(fl)
    Length 269' 10"
    Beam 42' 6"
    Draft 20' 8"
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Cargo Capacity 3,175 DWT
    non-refrigerated 115,873 Cu. ft.
    Speed 10.25 kts
    Complement 83
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 1,940 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Cooper Bessemer Diesel engine
    Ship's Service Generators
    three Diesel-drive 100Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    two Diesel-drive 40Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 1,190shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Hydra (AK-82)
    Hydra 81k Hydra being towed from her builder's yard at Camden, New Jersey, to a shipyard at Baltimore, Maryland, 27 May 1943 for completion and conversion. This view of the hull in its original configuration shows the nearly continuous row of hatch openings, over which a Clyde Whirley crane was to run on the tracks on each side of the hatches. The ship's funnel lies on deck aft. The tug is probably a Navy ship of the Allegheny (AT-19) class.
    US Navy Bureau of Ships photo # 19-N-45122 now in the collections of the US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Hydra
    19-N-52625    		 70k USS Hydra near Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay off Fort Carroll, 30 September 1943, five days after commissioning. Views off the bow and stern showing the provisional rig fitted to the second ship of this type to be completed, in which the Whirley crane was replaced by a kingpost with cargo booms stepped between holds Nos. 1 and 2.
    US National Archives RG-19-LCM photo # 19-N-52625 and 19-N-52626, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Hydra
    19-N-52626    		 90k
    USAPRS Madison Jordan Manchester
    Hydra 34k Ex-US Army Port Repair Ship Madison Jordan Manchester laid up in reserve on the James River, May 1985. Robert Hurst
    Hydra 21k Ex-US Army Port Repair Ship Madison Jordan Manchester at Wilmington Resources, Wilmington N. C. in 1995 to be dismantled, contract defaulted. Ship was towed to Philadelphia. Photo by Fred Rueckert
    Hydra 2338k An aerial sided view of the former Port Repair Ship USAPRS Madison Jordan Manchester tied up pierside at Baltimore Fairfield Terminal awaiting scrapping. On the south side of the pier are the ex destroyers USS Forrest Sherman (DD-931) and, outboard, USS Blandy (DD-943), also waiting to be scrapped.
    Department of Defense photo # DN-SC-95-00577.    		 Robert Hurst
    Blandy 314k An aerial view of the Baltimore Fairfield Terminal area showing various former US Navy destroyers awaiting the scrapper's torch. From bottom to top: the destroyers USS Blandy (DD-943) and USS Forrest Sherman (DD-931), the former US Army N-3 type port repair ship Madison Jordan Manchester, the guided missile destroyers USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) and USS Lawrence (DDG-4), the destroyer USS Davis (DD-937) and the bow of the USS Bigelow (DD-942), November 11 1994.
    Photo from the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Bill Gonyo
    USS Hydra (AK-82)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. McCotter, E. F.USCG25 September 1943 - 19 November 1943
    02LT. McCammond, E A.USCGR19 November 1943 - 19 November 1943
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    United States Army in World War II - The Corps of Engineers: Troops and Equipment- Chapter XVII - Preparing to Reconstruct Ports
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Navy Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The US Navy Cargo Ship (AK) Photo Index Back To The US Army Ship Type Index Back To The US Army Port Repair Ship Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 February 2019