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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Lost to enemy torpedo attack, 12 November 1942, at Fedala Bay, Morocco

USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43)
ex
USAT Hugh L. Scott (1941 - 1942)


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive--12 November 1942)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal

Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts (8 Officers, 51 Enlisted, 12 November 1942)
Hugh L. Scott Class Transport:
  • Built in 1921, as SS Hawkeye State, under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Operated as SS President Pierce by Dollar Steamship Co., and the American President Lines
  • Acquired by the US Army, 31 July 1941, and renamed USAT Hugh L. Scott
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 14 August 1942
  • Converted to a Naval Transport at Tietjen and Lang (later Todd Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.), Hoboken, N.J.
  • Commissioned USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43), 7 September 1942, CAPT. Harold James Wright in command
  • During World War II USS Hugh L. Scott was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign;

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    North African occupation
    Algerian-Morocco landings, 8 to 11 November 1942

  • Final Disposition, sunk by a torpedo from U-130, 12 November 1942, at Fedala Bay, Morocco
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 7 December 1942
  • USS Hugh L. Scott earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 12,579 t.
    Length 532'
    Beam 72'
    Draft 30' 6"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 119
    Troop Accommodations unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion steam turbine.

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service
    Hugh L. Scott 101k SS Hawkeye State photographed by her builder, Bethlehem S.B. Corp., Sparrows Point, Maryland, 18 December 1920, upon completion.
    US National Archives photo # RG-32-UB, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    Hugh L. Scott 222k USSB Passenger Liners SS President Pierce SS President Taft and Army Dredge USDE Culebra moored to the quay wall at Mare Island Navy Yard, 31 March 1924. Darryl Baker
    Hugh L. Scott 72k Dollar Steamship Co.'s passenger liner SS President Pierce underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43)
    Hugh L. Scott 306k
    Namesake

    Hugh Lenox Scott was born at Danville, Ky., 22 September 1853 and graduated from the Military Academy in 1876. He served with the cavalry at various western outposts, chiefly in Oklahoma and the Dakotas, and participated in the Indian campaigns until 1891. In 1897 he was a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution on Indian languages. After serving in various administrative posts in Cuba and the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, 1898 to 1906, Scott was promoted to Colonel and assumed duty as Superintendent of the Military Academy. Relieved in 1910, Scott made vital contributions as a mediator and a diplomat in Indian disputes. As Brigadier General, he served on the Mexican border 1913 to 1914 and helped resolve border difficulties with Mexico. Becoming Chief of Staff of the Army in November 1914, he laid the groundwork for American participation in World War I. General Scott was a member of the Commission to Russia in 1917 and served on the Western Front with British and French divisions. Retiring from the Army in 1919, Major General Scott died 30 April 1934 at Princeton, N.J.
    Portrait: Hugh Lenox Scott By Robert Oliver Skemp
    Center of Military History United States Army
    Bill Gonyo
    Hugh L. Scott
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34581
    97k USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) near New York Navy Yard, 14 September 1942. In this ship the two after 3"/50 guns were mounted high above the 4"/50 gun on the stern, while in her sister, USS Tasker H. Bliss (AP-42), all three guns were mounted on the same level. Note the full load of landing craft carried in the Welin davits amidships and on deck forward.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34581 and US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-34583, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Mike Green
    Hugh L. Scott
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34581
    106k
    Hugh L. Scott 180k USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) underway. date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from the collections of the US Navy Memorial
    Stan Svec
    Hugh L. Scott 87k USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) sinking at Fedala Bay, Morocco, 12 November 1942.
    US Navy photo # BUAIR NWYK 10,039, 12 November 1942. Photo taken from New York (BB-34)
    Tom Edrington
    Hugh L. Scott 698k Diagram of USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) showing probable flooding from torpedo damage sustained on 12 November 1942.
    Navy Department Library; War Damage Report No. 32, Transports torpedoed off Fedala, 11-15 November 1942.
    Mike Green

    USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Transports Torpedoed Off Fedala, 11 - 15 November 1942
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 1 January 2015