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NavSource Online: Identified Number Vessel Photo Archive

USAHS Charles A. Stafford
ex-USAT Siboney
ex-USS Siboney (ID 2999)



Navy call sign:
George - Tare - Watch - Have



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Vice - King

Siboney served both the U. S. Navy and Army.

Transport:

  • Laid down in 1916 as Oriente by William Cramp and Son, Philadelphia, PA
  • Launched 15 August 1917
  • Renamed Siboney 28 February 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy and commissioned USS Siboney (ID 2999), 8 April 1918
  • Decommissioned 10 September 1919 at Hoboken, NJ and returned to her owner, the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Co.
  • Acquired by the U.S. Army in June 1941 and commissioned USAT Siboney
  • Converted to a U.S. Army Hospital Ship in 1944 and renamed USAHS Charles A. Stafford
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission in 1948 and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Sold for scrap 22 January 1957 to the Bethlehem Steel Corp.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 11,298 t.
  • Length 443' 3"
  • Beam 60'
  • Draft 24' 6"
  • Speed 17.5 kts.
  • Complement 346
  • Armament: Two 1-pounders and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 4,250ihp steam engines, two shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Siboney (ID 2999)
    Siboney 71k Photographed by Machinist John G. Krieger, USN, in May 1918.
    Donation of John G. Krieger, 1967.
    U.S. Navy photos NH 43469 and NH 43470    		 Naval Historical Center
    Siboney 90k
    Siboney 105k Photographed in 1919, while engaged in returning troops to the United States from France. The card's reverse bears the hand-written inscription: "the ship that brought us HOME"
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 64932    		 Robert Hurst
    Siboney 88k Colhoun (DD-85) escorting a convoy of troopships, in mid-1918. The two-stack transport beyond her bow is Siboney
    Photographed by R. Bowman.
    Courtesy of Jack L. Howland, 1983.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 95200    		 Naval Historical Center
    Siboney 89k Underway in 1918, while painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
    National Archives photo 19-N-1109
    Siboney 107k In New York Harbor, with her decks crowded with troops returning home from France, circa late 1918 or 1919.
    Photographed by E. Muller Jr., New York.
    Collection of Captain Clarence S. Williams, USN. Donated by Mrs. Clarence S. Williams, 1975.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103238
    Siboney 66k The caption for this photo reads "U.S. Marines 'Devil Dogs' arriving at Naval Base - Hampton Roads, VA - USA Aug. 8, 1919 Returning from overseas service aboard U.S.S Troop Ship Siboney." Submitted by Anna Bullard for her father Oliver Howard Holmes
    Siboney 128k Letterpress reproduction of an artwork by Musician Loren C. Holmberg, USN, printed on page 5 of "Historical Souvenir of the U.S.S. Siboney", published by the ship's crew in 1919 as a momento of her service.
    Collection of Captain Clarence S. Williams, USN. Donated by Mrs. Clarence S. Williams, 1975.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103262-KN    		 Naval Historical Center
    Siboney 111k Photographed in 1919, while engaged in returning troops to the United States from France.
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105529    		 Robert Hurst
    Siboney 118k A halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the ship painted in "dazzle" camouflage in 1918-1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105888
    Siboney 92k At Brest, France, August 1919
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106391
    USAT Siboney
    Siboney 100k Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken while the ship was in port, circa 1942-1943. Reboilered, with her original two smokestacks replaced by a single unit.
    Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103243    		 Naval Historical Center
    USAHS Charles A. Stafford
    Siboney 235k Photo courtesy of 1st Lt. Orpha Mae Riggle (Blood), U.S. Army Nurse Corps, who served in Charles A. Stafford between September 1944 - October 1945 Orpha Mae Riggle (Blood)
    Siboney 115k Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1944-1946.
    Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103261    		 Naval Historical Center
    Siboney 118k Passing out Coca-Cola to wounded servicemen in one of the wards below decks
    From "Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference" by Emory A. Massman    		 Robert Hurst
    View the Siboney (ID-2999)
    DANFS history entry located at Navsource
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