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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Mount Vernon (AP-22)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Foxtrot - Charlie
NWFC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right top to bottom
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (13-16 January 1942, Singapore) - American Defense Service Medal (with "A" device) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Service Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Laid down, date unknown, as SS Washington at New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.
  • Launched, May 1933
  • Delivered to the United States Line for commercial service between the US and Europe
  • Renamed SS Mount Vernon, 6 June 1941
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 16 June 1941
  • Commissioned USS Mount Vernon (AP-22), 16 June 1941, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Philadelphia, PA., CAPT. Donald B. Beary in command
  • During and after World War II USS Mount Vernon operated in both the European and Pacific Theaters
  • Decommissioned, 18 January 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 7 February 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, renamed SS Washington
  • Returned, 18 January 1946, to the United States Lines
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 12 February 1953, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Group
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 June 1965, to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. for $238,126.93 (PD-X-629), withdrawn 28 June 1964
    Specifications:
    Displacement 24,289 t.
    Length 705' 3"
    Beam 86'
    Draft 30' 9" (lim)
    Speed 21.5 kts
    Complement
    Officers 55
    Enlisted 710
    Troop Capacity
    Officers 301
    Enlisted 5,730
    Cargo Capacity 1,060 DWT
    non-refrigerated 292,128 Cu. ft.
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    four single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight .50 cal machine guns
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 31,400 Bbls
    Diesel 300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two New York Shipbuilding steam turbines
    six Babcock and Wilcox A-type boilers, 400psi 695°
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    four turbo-drive 500Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 30,000shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Pre and Post War Commercial Service
    Mount Vernon 62k United States Lines' SS Washington in the final stages of construction in a fitting out berth at the New York Shipbuilding Company's shipyard in Camden, NJ, February 1933. Scott at LBS Products
    Mount Vernon 386k United States Lines' SS Washington First Day Cover featuring the first voyage of the Washington, postmarked US GFR Sea Post, 10 May 1933. Tommy Trampp
    Mount Vernon 532k United States Lines' SS Washington Farewell Dinner menu, 29 May 1934. Tommy Trampp
    Mount Vernon 21k SS Washington , postcard image. Scott at LBS Products
    Mount Vernon 75k Line drawing in color of the United States Lines' SS Washington. Scott at LBS Products
    Mount Vernon 142k Post card image of the United States Lines' SS Washington underway, circa 1951, location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Mount Vernon 150k Post card image of the United States Lines' SS Washington underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Mount Vernon 210k United States Lines' SS Washington at anchor, date and location unknown.
    Photo from "Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893" (1979) by Nicholas T. Cairis.
    Tommy Trampp
    USAT Washington
    Mount Vernon 186k USAT Washington underway, date and location unknown. She is in Army markings during the few weeks of 1941 after she was acquired from the United States Lines and before she was handed over to the Navy where she became USS Mount Vernon (AP-22).
    US Army Military History Institute photo. Photo and text from "U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II", by Donald H. Grover
    Robert Hurst
    USS Mount Vernon (AP-22)
    Mount Vernon 103k
    Namesake
    Mount Vernon. the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince George's County, Maryland. The Washington family had owned land in the area since the time of Washington's great-grandfather in 1674. Around 1734 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington, who began leasing the estate in 1754, but did not become its sole owner until 1761.
    Wikipedia Commons
    Tommy Trampp
    Mount Vernon 53k USS Mount Vernon (AP-22), date and place unknown. Robert E. Houle, CM2c, SSMT1c and Joseph R. Houle CCM former crew members
    Mount Vernon 65k USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) at speed. date and place unknown. Robert E. Houle, CM2c, SSMT1c and Joseph R. Houle CCM former crew members
    Mount Vernon 822k USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) underway off of San Francisco, 15 March 1943. Photo taken from an airship belonging to Lighter-than-Air Squadron (ZP-31) from NAS Santa Ana. Robert Hurst
    Mount Vernon   Click on the USS Mount Vernon Cruise Book to see the story of this World War II transport Robert E. Houle, CM2c, SSMT1c and Joseph R. Houle CCM former crew members

    USS Mount Vernon (AP-22)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    Mount Vernon
    Captain D. B. Beary, U.S. Navy
    (now Rear Admiral commanding)
    16 June 1941 TO 11 June 1942
    Mount Vernon
    Captain P. P. Powell, U.S. Navy (13)
    (now Commodore commanding)
    11 June 1942 TO 23 November 1943
    Mount Vernon
    Captain E. P. Eldredge, U.S. Navy
    commanding
    23 November 1943 TO 15 November 1945
    Mount Vernon
    Captain S. H. Thompson, USNR.
    commanding
    15 November 1945 TO 15 January 1946

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel Histroy Database
    Postal Covers related to the ship
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Transport (AP) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 20 May 2022