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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Sunk off Omaha Beach, 7 June 1944

USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Sierra - Bravo
 NYSB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Susan B. Anthony Class Transport:
  • Built as SS Santa Clara at New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, N.J., for the Grace Steamship Company
  • Launched in March 1930
  • Delivered to Grace Steamship Company, date unknown for commercial service
  • Acquired by the Navy, 7 August 1942
  • Converted to a Naval Transport at Bethlehem Steel's New York Yard
  • Commissioned USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72), 7 September 1942, LCDR. Thomas L. Gray, USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North African occupation
    Algeria-Morocco landings    , 8 to 13 November 1942     		Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 7 June 1944
    Sicilian occupation, 9 to 12 July 1943  

  • Final Disposition, struck a mine, 7 June 1944, off the "Omaha" Beachhead and sank
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 29 July 1944
  • USS Susan B. Anthony earned three battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,193 t.
    Length 504'
    Beam 63' 6"
    Draft 25'
    Speed 18 kts.
    Complement, unknown
    Passengers 2,074
    Cargo Capacity 122,500 cu. ft.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    Propulsion steam turbine
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Susan B. Anthony 61k
    Namesake

    Susan B. Anthony was born at Adams, Mass., on 15 February 1820. In 1852, after teaching school for 15 years, she organized the first women's state temperance society in America; and, in 1856, became the agent of the American Antislavery Society for New York state. However, after 1854, she concentrated most of her efforts upon agitation for women's rights. Between 1868 and 1870, she was the publisher of The Revolution, a New York feminist newspaper edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was vice president at-large of the National Woman Suffrage Association from its inception in 1869 until 1892, when she became president. Asserting that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution entitled her to vote, she cast a ballot in the election of 1872, was arrested and fined $100, which she declined to pay. She collaborated with three other women to write the History of Woman Suffrage, published in four volumes between 1884 and 1887. She died at Rochester, New York, on 13 March 1906.
    Photo from the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (NCWHS)
    ncwhs.oah.org/images/YoungSusanB.jpg    		 Bill Gonyo
    Merchant Service Grace Lines
    Susan B. Anthony 168k Aerial view of SS Santa Clara being built for the Grace Line at New York Ship, Camden N.J. in April or May 1930. She was later to become USS Susan B Anthony (AP-72) and lost in combat action, 7 June 1944, at Normandy.
    ISM Aero Service Collection #11925. Used for educational and non-commercial purposes.     		John Chiquoine
    Susan B. Anthony 118k Aerial view of Grace Line's SS Santa Clara, 10 April 1930, as she heads downstream on the Delaware River from New York Ship, Camden, N.J., her construction yard.
    Photo by Victor Dallin, Hagley Museum. Used for educational and non-commercial purpose.    		 John Chiquoine
    Susan B. Anthony 152k SS Santa Clara engine room. Standing on the left in both photos is Chief Engineer HiJlmar enoch Westerberg (Henry). During World War II Chief Engineer Westerberg was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the US Naval Reserve. He continued to serve as Chief Engineer in Santa Clara (USS Susan B. Anthony) until she was sunk at Normandy on 7 June 1944. He and Captain Gray were the last to leave the ship as she sank. Constance Niclas for her uncle Henry Westerberg
    Susan B. Anthony 200k
    USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72)
    Susan B. Anthony 89k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) at Norfolk Navy Yard, 7 October 1942.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # 19-N-35860 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Susan B. Anthony 99k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) under way near the Norfolk Navy Yard, 7 October 1942.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # 19-N-35861 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Susan B. Anthony
    19-N-34066    		 93k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) under way near New York Navy Yard, 14 September 1942.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo #'s 19-N-34066 and unknown, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    and Mike Green
    Susan B. Anthony
    unknown    		 50k
    Susan B. Anthony 89k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) under way near New York Navy Yard, 23 April 1943. The ship has been rearmed, with the two forward 3"/50 guns being lowered and a 40mm twin mount being added between them on a raised platform.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-44037, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Susan B. Anthony 92k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) under way near Norfolk Navy Yard, 13 May 1943. The ship has been rearmed, losing her 4"/50 gun aft and receiving two 40-mm twin mounts on raised platforms, one at each end.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 9-N-47645, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Susan B. Anthony 86k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) in port, date and location unknown. An inclining experiment demonstrated that she had virtually no reserve of stability, so she was stripped of her attack transport fittings, to be employed only as a point-to-point transport. The 20mm AA gun tubs around her funnel were a late addition that presumably contributed heavily to her stability problems.
    US Navy photo from "US Amphibious Ships and Craft", by Norman Friedman.    		 Robert Hurst
    Susan B. Anthony 99k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) anchored at Oran, Algeria, 5 July 1943, just before departing for the invasion of Sicily.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-215100 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Susan B. Anthony 96k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) under way, 1 May 1944, near the Boston lightship. Photographed by a the airship K9 from the Naval Air Station, South Weymouth, MA. The ship has lost all her landing craft and her Welin davits and is now being used as a regular transport.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # unknown by LT Gordon B Jacober, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    LCT-544 66k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) sinking off Omaha Beach, Normandy, 7 June 1944 after striking a mine. Alongside is USS Pinto (ATF-90) attempting to rescue survivors and fight the fires. Also in the photo is the bow ramp of LCT-544 coming alongside to attempt to take off survivors. Photo was taken from LCT-544 Steve O'Neill in honor of his father William T. O'Neill LCT-544
    Susan B. Anthony
    092207216    		 75k USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) between 0955 and 1010 hours, 6 June 1944. After striking a mine sinks stern first and rolls over to port before disappearing beneath the waves.
    Frames from a short film named "LCIs Leave England for Invasion, Convoy At Anchor, Troops Land in France, LST Sinks, Unloading Activities." National Archives ID 77077; Local ID 428-NPC-4359. Dept. of the Navy. Filmed by PH3/c Gilbert J. DeStefano US Coast Guard onboard LCI(L)88.    		 David Upton
    Susan B. Anthony
    092207217    		 62k
    USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Gray, Thomas Louis, USNR7 September 1942 - 29 September 1942
    02CAPT. Hartley, Henry :RADM29 September 1942 - 7 August 1943
    03LCDR. Gray, Thomas Louis, USNR7 August 1943 - 7 June 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 12 August 2022