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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAMP Joseph Henry
ex
 US Army Cable Ship Joseph Henry (1937 - 1940)
USAMP Joseph Henry (1909 - 1937)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - World War I Victory Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Mine Planter / Cable Ship:
  • Built in 1908 for the US Army Quartermaster Department by Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News VA.
  • Launched, 30 December 1908,
  • Accepted for service by the Quartermaster Department, 31 March 1909 originally as a Signal Corps cable ship
  • Designated U.S. Army Cable Ship Joseph Henry in honor of Dr. Joseph Henry, renowned scientist who invented the magnetic relay for electrical cables and performed experiments with new forms of casting large artillery pieces.
  • Stationed at Fort Totten, N.Y., in January 1919
  • Assigned to the Middle Atlantic Coast Artillery District, 4 May 1920
  • Further assigned to the Coast Defenses of Eastern New York, 8 November 1920
  • Redesignated Mine Planter USAMP Joseph Henry, 10 February 1921
  • Transferred, 16 November 1921. to Fort Wood, N.Y.
  • Relieved from the Coast Defenses of Eastern New York, 25 November 1921 and assigned to the Coast Defenses of Sandy Hook
  • Conducted six separate voyages to perform mining and cable operations at each of the Coast Defense commands on the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf Coast between November 1920 and September 1923
  • Transferred, 29 June 1923, to Governors Island, N,Y
  • Personnel assigned to Headquarters Battery, 7th Coast Artillery Regiment, 30 June 1924
  • On detached service June to October 1926 to conduct training with the Harbor Defenses of Galveston, Pensacola, and Chesapeake Bay
  • Personnel relieved from Headquarters Battery, 7th Coast Artillery, 20 August 1926
  • On detached service March 1930 to June 1930 and September 1930 to April 1931 to conduct training with the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, Chesapeake Bay, Boston, Pensacola, Charleston, and Narragansett Bay
  • On detached service from March 1936 to October 1936 to conduct training with the Harbor Defenses of Portland, Boston, and Narragansett Bay
  • On detached service from February to May 1937 to conduct training with the Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay, Eastern New York, and Portland
  • On detached service from July 1937 to September 1937 to conduct training with the Harbor Defenses of Boston, Narragansett Bay, and Long Island Sound
  • Redesignated U.S. Army Cable Ship Joseph Henry, 31 December 1937
  • Returned to the Mine Planter Service as the USAMP Joseph Henry by June 1940
  • On detached service in September 1940 to Fort Monroe, VA.
  • Permanently transferred, 17 September 1941 to Army Base, Boston, MA., and assigned to the Harbor Defenses of Boston
  • Decommissioned, 11 August 1945
  • Sold to the Greek Government in 1947, renamed Thalis O. Milissios used for cable maintenance
  • Withdrawn from Greek service in 1991
  • Sold to the Faliro Maritime Museum, Athens, Greece as of 2002, converted into a museum ship for the Greek Merchant Navy
    Specifications:
    Displacement 601 t. gross
    Length 160'
    Beam 32'
    Draft 17'
    Speed unknown
    Complement
    Officers, unknown
    Enlisted, twelve
    Civilian, unknown
    Cruise Radius unknown
    Fuel Capacities unknown
    Propulsion
    two reciprocating steam engines
    two shafts, 900shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Joseph Henry 5k
    Namesake
    Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. He was highly regarded during his lifetime. While building electromagnets, Henry discovered the electromagnetic phenomenon of self-inductance. He also discovered mutual inductance independently of Michael Faraday, though Faraday was the first to make the discovery and publish his results. Henry developed the electromagnet into a practical device. He invented a precursor to the electric doorbell and electric relay. The SI unit of inductance, the Henry, is named in his honor. Henry's work on the electromagnetic relay was the basis of the practical electrical telegraph, invented by Samuel F. B. Morse and Sir Charles Wheatstone, separately.     		Wikipedia
    Joseph Henry 95k USAMP Joseph Henry moored pierside, date and location unknown. History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
    Joseph Henry 116k USAMP Joseph Henry under way Galveston, Texas January 1923.
    Photo courtesy Randy Biddle     		Indicator Loops
    Joseph Henry
    30112304    		 67k USAMP Joseph Henry underway in December 1931 at US Army Engineers Base South Boston,MA., passing on her port side, USAJMP General Robert Anderson moored pierside.
    Boston Public Library, ©Leslie Jones Collection     		Tommy Trampp
    Joseph Henry
    30112305    		 68k USAMP Joseph Henry moored pierside, date and location unknown.
    U. S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941     		John Spivey
    The history for USACS / USAJMP Joseph Henry is from US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 2
    Commanding Officers
    01Capt. H. E. West, USA23 August 1917 - 24 October 1919
    02Capt. Willard M. Hall, USA24 October 1919 - 13 November 1920
    031st Lt. Ernest C. Bomar, USA 23 November 1920 – 19 January 1922
    04Maj. Belton O. Kennedy, USA 19 January 1922 – 22 February 1922
    051st Lt. Joseph Harris, USA 22 February 1922 – 20 October 1923
    06Unknown 21 October 1923 – 10 July 1924
    07Capt. Thomas R. Parker, USA 10 July 1924 – 4 September 1927
    08Capt. LeRoy H. Lohmann, USA 5 September 1927 – 30 June 1931
    091st Lt. Charles F. Wilson, USA 1 July 1931 – 15 October 1934
    101st Lt. John D. Robertson, USA 15 October 1934 – 2 March 1935
    112d Lt. Richard S. Spangler, USA 2 March 1935 – 9 August 1935
    121st Lt. Paul A. Roy, USA 9 August 1935 – 5 October 1935
    13Capt. D. Burgo Gill, USA 5 October 1935 – 7 March 1937
    14Capt. William B. Hawthorne, USA 7 March 1937 – 4 September 1937
    15Maj. James B. Carroll, USA 2 September 1937 - 30 June 1941
    16Lt. Col. Gerald Gibbs, USA 30 June 1941-January 1942
    US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 2
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Indicator Loops - The Army Cable Ship Joseph Henry
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Cable Ship Index Back To The US Army Mine Planter Ship Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 3 March 2023