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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

USAT John L. Clem
ex-USAHS John L. Clem
ex-USAT John L. Clem
ex-USS Santa Ana (ID 2869)

Santa Ana served the U. S. Navy, Army and Public Health Service.
Transport/Hospital Ship: Built in 1918 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA; Acquired by the Navy 11 February 1918 and commissioned USS Santa Ana (ID 2869) the same day; Decommissioned 21 July 1919 at Hoboken, NJ and transferred to the United States Shipping Board for return to her owners, W. R. Grace and Co. of New York; Renamed Guatemala, Santa Cecilia and Irwin; Acquired by the War Department in March 1941; Renamed John L. Clem. Converted to a troopship at New York City, and operated between the United States East and Gulf Coasts and ports in the Caribbean and Central America from June 1941 and September 1943. Converted to a hospital ship at Mobile, AL. Upon completion of this work in June 1944, she steamed across the Atlantic to begin duty in the western Mediterranean. She returned to the U.S. in June 1945 to begin preparations for service in the Pacific. However, when Japan surrendered in September she was reconverted to a transport and used to carry workers between Jamaica and Florida. Transferred to the War Shipping Administration early in 1946 and later assigned to the U.S. Public Health Service. Laid up in the Maritime Commission's reserve fleet at Brunswick, Georgia, under the name Irwin in December 1946; Sold for scrap in January 1948.

Specifications: Displacement 4,869 t.; Length 373' 9"; Beam 51' 2"; Draft 22' 9"; Speed 12 kts.; Complement 204; Armament unknown.

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For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Source
SS Santa Ana
Santa Ana 124k Fitting out at the William Cramp and Sons shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa late 1918.
U.S.Navy photo NH 93942		 Naval Historical Center
USS Santa Ana (ID 2869)
Santa Ana 120k Off New York City with her decks crowded with troops she has brought home from Europe, circa March-July 1919.
Photographed by E. Muller, Jr., New York.
U.S.Navy photo NH 43287		 Naval Historical Center
Santa Ana 79k In a U.S. East Coast harbor, with her decks crowded with troops returning from France, 1919.
U.S.Navy photo NH 70463		 Naval Historical Center
USAT John L. Clem
Santa Ana 127k Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1941.
Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.
U.S.Navy photo NH 85265		 Naval Historical Center
USAHS John L. Clem
Santa Ana 137k Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in 1944-1945.
Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.
U.S.Navy photo NH 99889		 Naval Historical Center
View the Santa Ana (ID 2869)
DANFS history entry located on the Naval Historical Center web site
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