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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Monticello (AP-61)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Bravo - Tango
 NABT
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, 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
Monticello Class Transport:
  • Built in 1928 as SS Conte Grande at Stabilimento Tecnico, Trieste, Italy
  • Launched, 28 June 1927
  • Interned in Brazil at the opening of World War II
  • Purchased by the US government, 16 April 1942
  • Commissioned USS Monticello (AP-61), 16 April 1942, CAPT Morton L. Deyo, USN.
  • Converted to for Naval Transport at Philadelphia
  • During World War II USS Monticello served in both the European and Asiatic Theaters
  • Operated by a Coast Guard crew after 6 August 1945
  • Decommissioned, 22 March 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration of the Maritime Commission, 27 May 1946
  • Returned to Italian Government per Executive Order 9935 signed by President Truman, 16 March 1948
  • Refitted for commercial service, name reverted to SS Conte Grande reflagged Italian
  • Final Disposition, broken up for scrap at La Spezia, Italy in 1961
    Specifications:
    Displacement 25,000 t. (lim)
    Length 652' 8"
    Beam 78' 1"
    Draft 27' 6"
    Speed 18 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 48
    Enlisted 793
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 200
    Enlisted 6,720
    Cargo Capacity 60,000 cubic feet
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    six single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    four .30 Machine guns
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 28,700 Bbls
    Diesel 720 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two Stabilimento Tecnico (Italy) Parsons type turbine
    nine Scotch boilers, 230psi 500°
    Stalil Main Reduction Gear
    Ship's Service Generators
    three turbo-drive, 150Kw 120V D.C.
    two turbo-drive, 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    twin propellers, 24,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service Lloyd Sabaudo Line
    Monticello 54k Pre-war image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown.
    Painting by Paolo Klodic.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Monticello 70k Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Monticello 143k Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Monticello 132k Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Monticello 79k Post-war image of ex-USS Monticello (AP-61) in commercial service after World War II as the Italian flagged SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Monticello 63k Post-war post card image of ex-USS Monticello (AP-61) in commercial service in 1957 as the Italian flagged SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    USS Monticello (AP-61)
    Monticello 263k
    Namesake
    Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States    		 Tommy Trampp
    Monticello 140k USS Monticello (AP-61) moored pierside at Philadelphia Navy Yard circa late May 1942 soon after her arrival from Brazil, where this ex-Italian liner had been interned, seized by Brazil, and sold by Brazil to the US Navy.
    US National Archives, RG-19, Correspondence files, C-AP61, Photo No. Unknown, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Terror 154k USS Monticello (AP-61) in the background of this photo of USS Terror (CM-5) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, sometime between 25 August and 16 September 1942. Monticello completed conversion, 10 September 1942. Robert Hurst
    Monticello 109k USS Monticello (AP-61) underway, 15 September 1942, near the Philadelphia Navy Yard after completing conversion.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-35386, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Monticello 98k USS Monticello (AP-61) underway near San Francisco, 15 December 1943. Photographed by an aircraft from NAS Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, CA.
    US National Archives, RG-80-G, Photo No. 80-G-214094, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Monticello 145k USS Monticello (AP-61) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Monticello 243k USS Monticello (AP-61) in port Marseille, France December 1945, loading Army personnel of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalion for their return trip to the United States. Note numbers on the hats of the soldiers boarding. Each soldier was assigned a number for the boarding process. The soldier with the number 86 on his hat is PFC Alfred H. Brissenden. The soldier with the number 143 is PFC Dillard D. Bailey. Photos courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr. Mikel Shilling
    Monticello 274k
    Monticello 238k Homeward bound 284th Engineer Combat Battalion soldiers aboard USS Monticello (AP-61), hanging over the rails as the ship passes Gibraltar in December 1945, while outbound from Marseille, France enroute to New York, City. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr, Mikel Shilling
    Monticello 247k Christmas aboard USS Monticello (AP-61), December 1945, as she is returning Army personnel of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalion to the United States. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr, Mikel Shilling
    Monticello 215k USS Monticello (AP-61) arriving at New York City from Marseille, France with homeward bound soldiers of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalionin December 1945. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr, Mikel Shilling
    USS Monticello (AP-61)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Deyo, Morton Lyndholm :RADM16 April 1942 - 1943
    02CAPT. Colyear, Bayard Henry1943 - 1944
    04CDR. Leslie, George R. USCG21 July 1945 - 22 July 1945
    05CAPT. Patch R. S. USCG22 July 1945 - 22 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 20 May 2022