USS General R. L. Howze (AP-134) was a for the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 throughout the war. She was named in honor of U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 general Robert Lee Howze

Robert Lee Howze

Robert Lee Howze was a United States Army Major General who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Indian Wars....

. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General R. L. Howze in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General R. L. Howze (T-AP-134). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Austral Glen, before being scrapped in 1980.

Operational history

General R. L. Howze (AP-134) was laid down under Maritime Commission

United States Maritime Commission

The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...

 contract (MC #657) 22 July 1942 by Kaiser Co., Inc.

Kaiser Shipyards

The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located mostly on the U.S. west coast during World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J...

, Yard 3, Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

; launched 23 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. W. C. Gardenshire; acquired by the Navy 31 December 1943; converted to a transport by Matson Navigation Co.

Matson Navigation Company

The Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, is a private shipping company with roots extending into the late 19th century...

, San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

; and commissioned at San Francisco 7 February 1944, Captain L. H. Baker, USCG

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

, in command.

After shakedown off San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, the transport loaded supplies, embarked troops at San Francisco, and sailed 20 March 1944 for New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. General R. L. Howze carried troops to Milne Bay

Milne Bay

Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....

 and Lae

Lae

Lae, the capital of Morobe Province, is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the start of the Highlands Highway which is the main land transport corridor from the Highlands region to the coast...

 to support the American buildup of pressure in the southwest Pacific, returning to San Francisco 2 May 1944. Subsequently, the ship steamed to Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

, Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

, Eniwetok

Enewetak

Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area totals less than , surrounding a deep central lagoon, in circumference...

, and many other islands as the rising tide of the Navy's amphibious offensive swept toward Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

. She carried troops, supplies, and even Japanese prisoners of war on a total of 11 voyages to the combat areas of the Pacific, before returning to San Francisco 15 October 1945, after the Japanese surrender

Surrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

.

In November, General R. L. Howze steamed to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 to bring home veterans, and sailed 10 January 1946 for England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 with 3,400 German prisoners. After touching at Liverpool 31 January, she brought American troops from Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 to New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 16 February, and made a final voyage to France for more returning veterans. General R. L. Howze decommissioned at New York 1 April 1946 and was returned to WSA

War Shipping Administration

The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....

 for transfer to the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

. She was placed in reserve in the James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

 6 August 1947, and returned to the War Department as an Army Transport in 1948.

On 20 November 1949 USAT General R. L. Howze left Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 with 1,105 displaced persons from Europe and arrived in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 on 17 December 1949. This voyage was one of almost 150 voyages by some 40 ships taking refugees of World War II to Australia. General R. L. Howze made one more such trip herself, arriving in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, again, with 1,316 refugees on 26 March 1950.

The veteran transport was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950 and joined MSTS with a civilian crew. For the next year General R. L. Howze sailed to and from Europe for the International Refugee Organization

International Refugee Organization

The International Refugee Organization was founded on April 20, 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. It was a United Nations specialized agency and took over many of the functions of the earlier...

, bringing displaced persons from Eastern Europe to the United States. In mid-1951, she was transferred to the Pacific, and steamed between San Francisco or Seattle and the Far East with troop replacements for U.N. troops

United Nations Command (Korea)

The United Nations Command is the unified command structure for the multinational military forces supporting the Republic of Korea during and after the Korean War...

 fighting in Korea

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. She continued this role during the active fighting and after the armistice.

However, in September 1954, General R. L. Howze was diverted from her normal pattern of sailings to take part in Operation Passage to Freedom

Operation Passage to Freedom

Operation Passage to Freedom was the term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation in 1954–55 of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam...

. For 5 months she and other Navy ships brought tens of thousands of refugees from North

North Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...

 to South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

 as that country was partitioned. According to one source, General R. L. Howze held the record for the "Passage to Freedom" ships with 38 births on board.

General R. L. Howze made two more voyages to the Far East supporting America's important readiness forces before returning to Seattle 31 December 1955. She remained inactive until entering the reserve fleet at Astoria, Oregon

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

, 15 July 1957. The ship was finally returned to the Maritime Administration 17 July 1958 and placed in the Maritime Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

 at Astoria, where she remained until sold for commercial service in 1965. At one time operated by Farrell Lines

Farrell Lines

Farrell lines Incorporated was named in 1948 after James A. Farrell Jr., and John J. Farrell, sons of James A Farrell Sr., president of US Steel. The company was previously known as American South African Lines . It was a passenger/cargo line in regular service from New York to South Africa...

 under the name SS Austral Glen, the ship was laid up in New York in 1978, and scrapped in 1980.

General R. L. Howze received six battle stars for Korean War service.

External links

• Image of an Incoming Passenger Card for one displaced person that debarked General R. L. Howze in Melbourne