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APH-1 Tryon Personnel Transport, Evacuation

One scenario-driven innovation of World War II included the utilization of three grey-hull medically modified personnel transport vessels (APH) "Transport Fitted for Evacuation of Wounded ". These were Tryon (APH-1) [later T-AP-186: Sergeant Charles E. Mower (1942-1969)], Pinkney (APH-2) [later T-AP-184: Private Elden H. Johnson (1942-1971)] and Rixey (APH-3) [later T-AP-185: Private William H. Thomas (1942-1971)].

An APH (which could carry landing forces inbound) was considered preferable, because it had a complete staff of medical specialists and a large sick bay, so specialized treatment could be administered. Operating outside Geneva Convention protections, the camouflaged and heavily armed APH carried eight to twelve medical officers and sixty hospital corpsmen (no nurses were assigned). Each ship was capable of transporting 1,150 patients, with three hundred beds reserved formajor casualties, two main operating rooms, and two auxiliary surgical facilities. These ships, built upon freighter hulls and equipped with Higgins-type LCVP landing craft for shuttling casualties from shore, were held in the "transportation area" of the assault force as evacuation ships.When bed capacity was reached, the ships sailed, to avoid further exposure to air attacks. As a general rule, APHs withdrew out to sea at night, but on occasion they remained anchored about a thousand yards offshore, protected by smoke screens.

Tryon (APH-1) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 175) on 26 March 1941 at Oakland, Calif., by the Moore Drydock Co., as Alcoa Courier; launched on 21 October 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Roy G. Hunt; renamed Comfort in June 1942; renamed Tryon on 13 August 1942; acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 29 September 1942; and commissioned on 30 September 1942. USS Pinkney, a 11,500 ton evacuation transport, was built in Oakland, California. Originally intended for civilian use under the name Alcoa Corsair, she was taken over by the Navy while still under construction and commissioned in November 1942. Rixey (APH-3) was laid down on 6 August 1941 by the Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, Calif., as Alcoa Cruiser (MC hull 177). Originally intended as a bauxite and passenger carrier for the Alcoa Steamship company's. United States-South American schedule, she was designated for Navy use and assigned the name Rixey after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Rixey was launched 30 December 1941; sponsored by Miss Betty Hammond; converted to a "transport fitted out for the evacuation of wounded" by her builder; and delivered and commissioned 30 December 1942.

The attack personnel transport (APA), although not designed or properly equipped for handling casualties, often bore the brunt of the initial load from beach assaults-for example, at Iwo Jima. The use of APHs was considered desirable in an amphibious attack, because this type of ship could carry assault forces inbound, had a complete staff of specialists, and had a large sick bay so that specialized treatment could be provided.

The APH had about eight medical officers and a bed capacity of over a thousand. These ships were held in the "transportation area" of the assault force as evacuation ships. When bed capacity was reached, the ship sailed, to prevent exposure to air attacks. As a general rule, the ships withdrew out to sea at night, but on occasion they remained anchored a thousand yards offshore, protected by a smoke screen.

The large number of wounded at Iwo Jima emphasized the need for many medical support ships, two of which were USS Samaritan (AH 10) and Solace (AH 5), augmented by Pinckney (APH 2), Bountiful (AH 5), and a "reserve hospital ship," the vehicle landing ship Ozark (LSV 2). Their only assigned function was transportation and en-route care of the sick and wounded.

During 1943 and most of 1944, Pinkney operated in the South Pacific, evacuating the wounded and sick from the combat zones to rear areas and providing general transportation services. From September 1944 through April 1945, she took part in operations to capture the Palaus, the Philippines and Okinawa, taking in combat forces and taking out injured men. On 28 April 1945, while off Okinawa, she was crashed by a Kamikaze, receiving damage and casualties. Following repairs, Pinkney spent the last part of 1945 and the first months of 1946 supporting the occupation of Japan and returning veterans to the United States.

Tryon was turned over to the United States Army on 17 July 1946 and converted into a troop transport by the Todd Shipyard, Seattle, Wash. She emerged from the yard on 25 August 1947 and was placed in service as Sgt. Charles E. Mower. The Secretary of Defense, by a directive dated 2 August 1949, established a unified sea transportation service; and, on 1 March 1950, the ship was transferred back to the Navy Department, assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service, and designated T-AP-186.

In September 1946, Pinkney was transferred to the U.S. Army Transportation Service and reentered service as the U.S. Army Transport Private Elden H. Johnson in 1947. In March 1950, she was taken over by the Military Sea Transportation Service and became U.S. Naval Ship (USNS) Private Elden H. Johnson (T-AP-184).

Subsequently transferred to the War Department and renamed Private William H. Thomas, Rixey (APH-3) was operated by the Army Transportation Service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean until the establishment of the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) in late 1949. Then designated for transfer to that organization, she was returned to the Maritime Commission and turned over to the Navy on 1 March 1950. Retaining her Army name, she was designated T-AP-185 and, manned by a civilian crew, continued her United States-Southern Europe operations. Initially assigned to Mediterranean and Adriatic runs, she added Caribbean ports to her schedule in 1951, and until July 1957 alternated runs to those areas. On 27 December 1957, Private William N. Thomas was struck from the Navy list and simultaneously transferred to the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet. She was berthed in the Hudson River until sold, on 28 August 1970, to Tung Ho Enterprise Corp., of Taiwan.

Immediately prior to the British Falklands invasion, the Royal Navy requisitioned the luxury liner SS Canberra and rapidly converted it into a troop carrier, equipped with a major surgical facility. Plans called for it to receive casualties after unloading, even though Canberra did not qualify for neutrality by virtue of having traveled with combatant-ship escorts and transported both troops and combat equipment to the theater (similar to the APH concept in World War II).

(APH-1: dp. 9,920; 1. 450'0"; b. 62'0"; dr. 23'6"; s. 18 k. (tl.); cpl. 455; trp. 1,274; a. 1 5", 12 40mm.; cl. Tryon; T. C2-S1-A1 (c)) (APH-3: displacement 11,500 (full load); length 450'; beam 62'; draft 23'6"; speed 18 knots; complement 460; troop 1,166; armament 1 5", 12 40mm.; class Tryon; type Z-C2-S1-A1)