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NavSource Online: Civilian Vessel Photo Archive

USAT Edmund B. Alexander
ex-APL-1
ex-USAT America
ex-USS America (ID 3006)
ex-USS Amerika

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp)

Transport:

Laid down in 1904 as Amerika by Harland and Wolff, Ltd., Belfast, Ireland

Launched 20 April 1905

Seized by United States Shipping Board (USSB) 25 July 1917

Commissioned, USS Amerika (ID 3006), 6 August 1917, at the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA

Renamed America 1 September 1917

Decommissioned 26 September 1919 at Hoboken, NJ and simultaneously commissioned into the U.S. Army Transportation Service as USAT America

Returned to the USSB in 1920

Refurbished for passenger service and placed back in commercial service 22 June 1921

Laid up at Point Patience, MD in 1931

In 1935 the Army and Navy had agreed that the Army would operate its own ships except where naval opposition was expected, in which case the ships would be Navy manned. However, experience in the first part of

World War II indicated that naval opposition by the enemy, in the form of submarines, could be encountered anywhere. In April 1941 the CNO proposed to the Chief of Staff of the Army that a board review the issue. The

Board recommended on 28 April 1941 that the Army "surrender operation of its transport service for the term of the present emergency" following procedures that it enumerated, the first of which was that the Navy would

commission the Army transports with Navy crews as soon as possible. On 15 May 1941 the Auxiliary Vessels Board directed the implementation of this plan, and on 22 May 1941 the Secretary of War approved the transfer

of the ships, noting that jurisdiction over each ship was to pass at the time it was manned by the Navy. On 5 Jun 1941 the Secretary of the Navy approved names for the 26 ships, 23 of which, including Edmund B.

Alexander, were to retain their Army names. The hull numbers AP 20-36 (less 23), AK 32-40, and APL-1 (for the barracks ship in Newfoundland) were soon assigned to them. The Navy manned, took over, and converted

three ships (AP 25-27) practically immediately, but it then found that it did not have the personnel to man the remaining ships and on 7 July 1941 made the first of many revisions to the commissioning schedule. Ultimately the

Navy was able to man only 15 of the 26 ships (all AP's), of which it later returned five to the Army. The Navy directive for manning the others, including APL-1, was cancelled on 30 March 1942. Their hull numbers were

officially listed as "not used" and the ships remained under Army control.

Placed in service as USAT Edmund B. Alexander 17 October 1940 by the U.S. Army Transportation Service

Placed in reserve 28 January 1951 at Hawkin's Point, MD

Sold for scrap 16 January 1967 to the Bethlehem Steel Co. of Baltimore, MD.

Specifications:

Displacement 41,500 t.
Length 687'
Beam 75' 5"
Draft 39' 5"
Speed 17.5 kts.(max.)
Complement 994
Armament: Four 6" gun mount, two 1-pounders, two .30 cal. Colt machine guns, one .30 cal. Lewis machine gun and nine depth charges
Propulsion: Two 15,000 hp vertical quadruple expansion steam turbines, two shafts.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description	Source
SS Amerika
	151k	Photographed prior to World War I. U.S. Navy photo NH 57603	Naval Historical Center
USS America (ID 3006)
	70k	Photographed circa 1917, possibly while being prepared for U.S. Navy service. U.S. Navy photo NH 94203	Naval Historical Center
	133k	At Boston, Massachusetts, 1917, with her topsides crowded with men. USN Derrick Barge 13 is at left, and USN Coal Barge 52 is alongside America in the right center. Panoramic photograph by the George Photo Company, Boston. Donation of Eleanor M. Anderson, 1975. U.S. Navy photo NH 98237	Naval Historical Center
	164k	The ex-German passenger vessel Amerika, at the Boston Navy Yard, 14 August 1917 shortly after seizure by USSB undergoing conversion for Naval service. U.S. Navy photo from DANFS	Joe Radigan, MACM, USN, Ret.
	161k	View on deck, taken at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, on 17 October 1917, after completion of conversion to a troopship. View looks aft from her midships superstructure, with cargo-handling booms and winches in the foreground. U.S. Navy photo NH 57601	Naval Historical Center
	120k	Sunk at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa October-November 1918. America had accidently sunk at her dock on 15 October 1918. Raised on 21 November, she was repaired and returned to transport service in February 1919. Donation of John G. Krieger, 1967. U.S. Navy photo NH 57604	Naval Historical Center
	129k	Under salvage at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa October-November 1918. She accidently sank at her pier on 15 October 1918. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. Collection of Admiral Albert Gleaves, USN. Naval Historical Center photo NH 103244	Robert Hurst
	149k	Under salvage at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa October-November 1918. She accidently sank at her pier on 15 October 1918. This photograph provides a close-up view of the ship's port side, amidships, showing men on her deck, signal flags drying and laundry hanging from railings, smokestack stays and other locations. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. Collection of Admiral Albert Gleaves, USN. Naval Historical Center photo NH 103245	Robert Hurst
	116k	USS Don Juan de Austria, in the foreground. Leading America up Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, on 5 April 1919. U.S. Navy photo NH 54586	Naval Historical Center
	87k	Steaming up Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, upon arrival from France with troops of the 26th Division on board, 5 April 1919. U.S. Navy photo NH 57602	Naval Historical Center
	123k	Photographed circa 1919. U.S. Navy photo NH 78268	Naval Historical Center
	103k	Underway in 1919. Courtesy of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2005. Naval Historical Center photo NH 102869	Robert Hurst
	121k	America arriving in New York Harbor, with her decks crowded with troops returning home from France, 1919. Photographed by E. Muller Jr., New York Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007 Naval Historical Center photo NH 105432	Robert Hurst
	111k	America arriving at a East Coast port at sunrise, bringing New England troops home from France, 1919. A submarine chaser (left foreground) and other craft are seen welcoming her. Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008 Naval Historical Center photo NH 105777	Robert Hurst
USAT America
	149k	c. 1939 In the Patuxent River off Solomons Island, MD, four ex-German liners are laid up from left to right USAT Monticello, ex-USS Agamemnon (ID 3004; USAT Mount Vernon, ex-USS Mount Vernon (ID 4508); America and USAT George Washington, ex-USS George Washington (ID 3018)	Joe Radigan
USAT Edmund B. Alexander
	146k	In port, following World War II. Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2007. Naval Historical Center photo NH 104966	Robert Hurst
	123k	Edmund B. Alexander underway near Boston Light, Massachusetts, 6 January 1945. Photographed from a Squadron ZP-11 blimp. National Archives photo 80-G-301393	Naval Historical Center
	119k	In port, circa 1945-1946. Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2007. Naval Historical Center photo NH 104968	Robert Hurst