History of AP-148

Specifications: Displacement 9,950 t.(lt) 17,250 t.(fl).; Length 522' 10"; Beam 71' 6"; Draft 26' 6"; Speed 18kts; Complement 494; Troop Capacity, 4,766; Armament four single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, four twin 1.1" gun mounts (replaced by four twin 40mm gun mounts), 15 twin 20mm gun mounts; Propulsion, geared turbine, single shaft, 8,500hp.

General M. L. Hersey (AP-148) was launched under a Maritime Commission contract 1 April 1944 by Kaiser Company, Inc., Yard #3, Richmond, California, sponsored by Mr. Alice Hersey Wicks, General Hersey's daughter; acquired by the U.S. Navy 31 May 1944; and commissioned 29 July 1944, Captain James W. Smith in command.

After shakedown off San Pedro, General M. L. Hersey sailed from San Francisco 5 September 1944 with troops and cargo for garrisons in the Southwest Pacific.  She reached Milne Bay, New Guinea, 21 September, and subsequently carried troops and supplies to the Admiralty Islands, the Russell Islands, and the Solomon Islands, before departing Guadalcanal for the United States 6 October.  Arriving San Francisco 19 October, she brought home more than 3,000 veterans of the bitter Pacific fighting.  Between 7 November 1944 and 14 August 1945, the transport made four round-trip voyages from San Francisco and Seattle to the Western Pacific, carrying troops to New Guinea, the Philippines, the Palaus, and the Marianas during the final amphibious offensive against Japan.  At Leyte in November, General M. L. Hersey endured frequent air attacks.

Following the surrender, the veteran ship departed Seattle 31 August and steaming via the Philippines, she arrived Yokohama 24 September with occupation troops.  There she embarked 3,052 troops and departed five days later as a unit of Operation AMagic Carpet,@ a giant sea lift designed to return hundreds of thousands of American fighting men to the United States as quickly as possible.  Between 3 December 1945 and 3 March 1946 she steamed twice to the Far East where she embarked returning veterans at Yokohama and Manila and transported them to San Pedro and San Francisco.  Departing San Francisco 23 March, she then  steamed via Manila and Singapore to Calcutta, India, and Colombo, Ceylon, where she embarked AMagic Carpet@ troops.  She departed Colombo 28 April, sailed via the Suez Canal, and arrived New York 21 May.  She decommissioned at New York 1 June and was turned over to WSA 6 June for eventual use as a transport by the U.S. Army Transportation Service.

Reacquired by the U.S. Navy 1 March 1950, General M. L. Hersey was placed in service and assigned to Military Sea Transport Service under a civilian crew.  Operating out of New York, she carried European refugees to the United States in support of the International Refugee Organization.  During 1952 and 1953 she made four round-trips from San Francisco to the Far East in support of the struggle to repel Communist aggression in Korea.  She was placed out of service 11 June 1954 and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego.  Later transferred to the Maritime Administration, on 3 September 1959, she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California.  The ship was sold to Sealand, Inc., in 1979, and converted to haul their containers.  Renamed St. Louis, she served until she was scrapped in Pakistan in April 1988.

The U.S.S. General Mark L. Hersey received on battle star for World War II service and 2 battle stars for Korean War service.

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