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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Lafayette (AP-53)

Lafayette Class Transport
  • Built in 1935 as SS Normandie at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 27 December 1941
  • Renamed Lafayette and designated Naval Transport (AP-53)
  • Severally damaged from fire and capsizing, 9,10 February 1942, at New York
  • Uprighted, refloated and towed to Brooklyn Naval Shipyard for lay up
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 October 1945
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 3 October 1946, to Lipsett Incorporated
    Specifications:
    Displacement 83,423 t.
    Length 1,028'
    Beam 117'
    Draft 26'
    Speed 29 kts.
    Complement unknown
    Troop Capacity unknown
    Armament none
    Propulsion steam turbo-electric, four propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Lafayette 165k
    Namesake

    Marie Joseph du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette -- born at Chateau Chavaniac, Auvergne, France, on 6 September 1757 -- entered the French Army at the age of 14, and six years later left France to assist the American colonists in their fight for independence from Great Britain. His military contributions to the victory of the Americans were climaxed by the final campaign in which his skillful maneuvering played a major part in the defeat of the British at Yorktown. Taking the gratitude of the American people with him, he returned to France in 1781 and later aided his own people in the disturbed days of the French Revolution. As commander of France's eastern Army, Lafayette was captured by the Austrians in August 1792. He was imprisoned for five years, and released after Napoleon's rise to power. For the rest of his life he actively participated in movements for liberty and freedom in France and the world. He died in Paris on 20 May 1834.
    Photo: Marquis de Lafayette. Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, 1781
    Images of American Political History    		 Bill Gonyo
    Lafayette 75k Lafayette (AP-53) after catching fire at New York harbor, 9 February 1942. Those areas of her hull and funnels not yet ravaged by the flames clearly reveal an angular, muted-tone pattern camouflage. US National Archives photo. Robert Hurst
    View the Lafayette (AP-53)
    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
    S.S. Normandie
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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 25 April 2008