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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAT President Buchanan
ex
 USAHS Emily H. M. Weder (1943 - 1945)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Hospital Ship / Transport:
  • Built in 1920 as the 502 class cargo liner SS Panhandle State at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N. J. for the US Shipping Board
  • Launched in 1920
  • Deliver in August 1920 to US Mail Steamship Co.
  • Transferred to United States Lines for their London Service
  • Renamed SS President Monroe in 1922
  • Purchased by Dollar Lines in 1923
  • Transferred to American President Lines in 1938
  • Renamed SS President Buchanan in 1940
  • Operated by American President Lines from 12 March 1942, under for the War Shipping Administration under a General Agency Agreement
  • Delivered to the US Army at New York 1 November 1943 as a bare bottom charger
  • Converted to a hospital ship at Atlantic Basin Iron Works, between 1 November 1943 and 5 July 1944
  • Renamed USAHS Emily H. M. Weder, date unknown
  • USAHS Emily H. M. Weder departed New York in Mid-July 1944 for duty in the Mediterranean for two months
  • Reassigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, she operated there in the Southwest Pacific Area from January 1945
  • Decommissioned, as a hospital ship at Los Angeles in November 1945
  • Recommissioned in November 1945 as USAT President Buchanan a troopship and a dependent passenger transport
  • Enroute to Hawaii her boilers were damaged by salt water, detained in the Hawaiian Islands for repairs until May 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 3 December 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Sold for scrapping, 26 March 1957, to The Learner Co. (PD-X-532 dated 25 February 1957) for $276,400.00. Withdrawn, 10 April 1957, Scrapping Completed, 24 May 1957
    Hospital Ship Specifications:
    Displacement 11,933 gross tons
    Length 502'
    Beam 62'
    Draft 27'2"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement
    Merchant Marine, unknown
    Enlisted, unknown
    Cargo Capacity
    Emily H. M. Weder, none
    President Buchanan, 465,940 cu. ft.
    Patient Capacity 738
    Fuel Capacities unknown
    Cruise Radius 11,850 nm
    Propulsion
    six oil fired Scotch boilers
    two 4-cylinder triple expansion steam inverted reciprocating engines
    two propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service United States Line
    Emily H. M. Weder 211k SS Panhandle State cabin plan. Tommy Trampp
    USAHS Emily H. M. Weder
    Emily H. M. Weder
    30080608    		 48k
    Namesake
    Major Emily Helen Weder U.S Arny, was a career military nurse who had served her country from 1918 until the time of her death in 1943.
    Photo of US Army Nurses with Major Emily H. Weder (far right)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Emily H. M. Weder 182k Post Card image of USAHS Emily H. M. Weder at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Army photo.     		 
    Emily H. M. Weder 31k A view of USAHS Emily H. M. Weder psychiatric ward, date unknown.
    US Army photo.     		 
    Emily H. M. Weder 44k Poster announcement of an occupational therapy exhibit aboard USAHS Emily H. M. Weder 1945.
    US Army photo.  
    Emily H. M. Weder 44k A arts and crafts exhibit aboard USAHS Emily H. M. Weder1945 and location unknown.
    US Army photo.  
    Emily H. M. Weder 33k
    USAT President Buchanan
    President Buchanan
    30080609    		 263k
    Namesake
    President James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. Bust portrait, facing right. (cropped from the original image), Photographed between 1850 and 1868, printed later.
    U.S. Library of Congress - From Brady daguerreotype (Mathew Brady) (1822-1896)    		 Tommy Trampp
    President Buchanan
    30080607    		 227k USAT President Buchanan at anchor, location unknown, circa November 1945. Darryl Baker
    USAT President Buchanan and USAHS Emily H. M. Weder histories are from "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles, Published by The Army Transportation Association, Washington, D.C., 1947
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Transport Photo Index Back To The US Army Hospital Ship Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 5 January 2024