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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS General David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)
ex
 USAT General David C. Shanks (1943 - 1950)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Victor - Tango
 NDVT
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (1) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
  • Laid down (date unknown) as SS Gulfport, a Maritime Commission type (C3-1N-P&C) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 165) at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, MS.
  • Launched (date unknown)
  • Delivered, 24 April 1943 to the Maritime Commission and turned over to the US Army Transportation Service
  • Commissioned USAT David C. Shanks, date unknown
  • Turned over to the Navy by the Army, 15 March 1950
  • Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and placed in service as USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)
  • During the Korean War USNS David C. Shanks participated in the following campaign:
    Korean War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Communist China Aggression, 26 December 1950 to 1 January 1951
  • In-actived and returned to the Maritime Administration Laid up, 27 October 1959, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.,
  • Stuck from the Naval Register and title transferred to MARAD, 1 November 1960
  • Sold for non-transportation use to Inter-Ocean Grain Storage Co. Ltd.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
  • USNS General David C. Shanks earned one battle star for Korean War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 10,418 t.
    Length 489'
    Beam 69'6"
    Draft 27'4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Troop Accommodations 1,976
    Armament none
    Propulsion steam turbine, single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USAT David C. Shanks
    General David C Shanks 98k
    Namesake

    David C. Shanks, Jr. was born on 6 April 1861 in Salem, Virginia. He was a student at Roanoke College in Salem from 1874 to 1878. He entered USMA and graduated thirty-three of thirty-seven in the class of 1884. Isaac Newton Lewis, inventor of the Lewis machine gun, was one of his classmates. He was commissioned in the 18th Infantry. From 1888 to 1894, he performed frontier duty. From 1894 to 1898, he was the Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. During the Spanish-American War, he served as a major of Virginia volunteers. From 1899 to 1901 he served during the Philippine Insurrection, and from 1903 to 1904, he was governor of the province of Cavite. During World War I, he was commander of the Port of Hoboken, New Jersey. He was promoted to major general on 5 August 1917. From September 1918 to 30 November 1918, he commanded the 16th Infantry Division at Camp Kearny, California, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. This was a short-lived training unit that never saw service in the field. He also received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. On Armistice Day 1921, he was the pall bearer for the American Unknown Soldier of World War I. He also served as a pall bearer for President Warren G. Harding on 5-7 1923 in Marion, Ohio. In 1925, he retired and wrote a book on management of the American soldier. In retirement, he lived in Washington, D.C., where at the age of seventy-nine, he died on 10 April 1940.
    Text: U.S. Army National Infantry Museum
    Digital ID: ggbain 30321 Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division    		 Bill Gonyo
    General David C Shanks 105k USAT David C. Shanks underway in San Francisco Bay, probably, early circa 1946.
    US Navy photo # 98762 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Ret), 2003.    		 Robert Hurst
    USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)
    General David C Shanks 43k USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) entering San Francisco Bay, date unknown Tom Langford
    General David C Shanks 91k USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) underway, probably in San Francisco, Bay, circa 1956-1958.
    US Navy photo # NH 103782 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    General David C Shanks 100k USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) being assisted away from the pier at Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA., by Red Cloud (YTB-268), circa 1950s.
    US Navy photo # NH 103783 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    General David C Shanks 54k USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) manoeuvering, probably at San Francisco, circa 1950s, with the assistance of navy harbor tugs.
    US Navy photo # NH 103784 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    General David C Shanks 74k USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) departing port with passengers aboard, probably April 1951.
    US Navy photo # NH 103785 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    View the USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)
    DANFS history entry located on 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
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    Last Updated 23 May 2008