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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

P. H. Burnett (IX-104)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Delta - Romeo
 NJDR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is left to right
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Miscellaneous Auxiliary:
  • Laid down, as a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCE 300), 29 June 1942 at California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles, CA.
  • Launched, 10 August 1942
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 29 August 1942 and turned over to her operator the American President Lines the same day
  • Torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-21, 420 miles east of Newcastle, Australia, 22 January 1943, abandoned by her merchant marine crew, towed to Sydney by HMAS Mildura (J-207)
  • Acquired by the US Navy, retrofited and placed in service as, P. H. Burnett (IX-104), 30 August 1943, LT. D. Ruos in charge
  • Placed out of service 7 August 1946, at Olympia, WA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 8 August 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Olympia, WA. Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 October 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 17 November 1958, to Union Metal & Steel Corp.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 14,230 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 22'
    Speed 11 kts
    Complement
    Officers 12
    Enlisted 170
    Cargo Capacity
    non-refrigerated 130,700 Cu ft.
    Armament
    one single 5"/30 dual purpose gun mount
    three single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    eight 20mm guns
    Machinery
    three Recip-drive 20Kw 115V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merchant Service
    IX-104 232k
    Namesake
    Peter Hardeman Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 15, 1807. In 1832 he migrated to Liberty, Missouri, where he practiced law and served as prosecuting attorney from 1840 to 1842. Burnett moved to Oregon in 1843 and helped in the organization of a territorial government. He was a justice on the Oregon Supreme Court in 1845, and served as a member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1844 and 1848. Burnett was lured to California during the gold rush, but continued in his career of law and his path in politics. He served as the attorney and general agent to John A. Sutter Jr., and was a judge for the Superior Tribunal of California. On November 13, 1849, he was elected as the first governor of California, and on December 20, 1849, he was sworn into office. During his term, California entered into statehood in September 1850 and San Jose became the state's first capital. Burnett endorsed the idea of excluding blacks from California. After his first annual address received criticism from the legislature, he abruptly resigned from office on January 9, 1851. Governor Burnett returned to his law practice, served on the bench of the California Supreme Court from 1857 to 1858, and became president of the Pacific Bank in 1863. Burnett also published several books, including one that spoke about his passionate conversion to Catholicism. Governor Peter H. Burnett died on May 17, 1895, in San Francisco, and he is buried at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, Santa Clara, California.
    Photo courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley    		 Bill Gonyo
    IX-104 48k SS Peter H. Burnett under tow by HMAS Mildura (J-207) in January 1943 after she had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-21 off the coast of Australia. Peter Waugh
    P. H. Burnett (IX-104)
    IX-104 166k P. H. Burnett (IX-104) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Ron Hatfield
    IX-104 128k P. H. Burnett (IX-104) dry docked in USS ABSD-1, 2 February 1945.
    US National Archives RG-80-G photo # 80-G-314236, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    P. H. Burnett (IX-104)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 23 March 2012