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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

APA-103 Queens


Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Uniform - Delta
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Windsor Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 2 March 1944, under as a Maritime Commission type C3-S-A3 hull under Maritime Commission contract MC hull 1677 at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 12 September 1944
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 16 December 1944 and acquired by the US Navy the same day
  • Commissioned USS Queens (APA-103) the same day, CAPT. John J. Mockrish, USNR, in command
  • During World War II Queens was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 10 June 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 11 June 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 June 1946
  • Converted to Maritime Commission hull type (P1-S1-DR1) in November 1947
  • Purchased by American Export Lines, 22 November 1948, renamed SS Excambion
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 17 March 1959 (Trade in Program)
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Group, 20 April 1959
  • Loaned to Texas Maritime Academy, 26 April 1965, for service as a merchant marine officer training ship, renamed USTS Texas Clipper (I)
  • Final Disposition, sunk as an artificial reef, 17 November 2007, seventeen miles off South Padre Island, TX.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,970 t.(lt) 13,143 t.(fl)
    Length 473' 1"
    Beam 66'
    Draft 25'
    Speed 17 kts.
    Complement
    42 Officers
    434 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    94 Officers
    1463 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 150,000 cu. ft, 1600 tons
    Armament
    one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion 2 Babcock & Wilcox steam turbines, 8,800shp, 6.473KW
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Queens (APA-103)
    Queens 48k Queens (APA-103) underway, circa 1945
    US Navy photo NH 74300 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1971.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USTS Texas Clipper (I)
    Queens 125k Ex-Queens (APA-103) in service as the merchant marine officer training ship USTS Texas Clipper (I) at Texas A&M University Galveston, moored pierside, date and place unknown. David Nixon
    Queens 68k USTS Texas Clipper (I) at Texas A&M University Galveston, moored pierside, October 1984 Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Queens 59k Ex-Queens (APA-103), Ex-Texas Clipper (I) being scrapped at ESCO, Brownsville, TX., February 2007. Photo by Michael Martin, Brownsville, TX.
    View the Queens (APA103)
    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
    Texas A&M University at Galveston
    US Coast Guard Official video and other videos of the reefing of ex-Queens, 17 November 2007
    More video of ex-Queens being reefed
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Attack Transport (APA) Photo Index
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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 28 December 2007