USAT Willard A. Holbrook

On December 7th, I wrote about South Dakotan William Gese who was on the transport Willard A. Holbrook at Pearl Harbor and had attended Mass on the the USS Oklahoma one week to the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I did some follow up research on the US Army Transport Willard A. Holbrook. It was built by the Bethlehem Steel Company at Sparrows Point, Maryland in 1921 and originally named the Buckeye State. It weighed 14,123 tons, was 517 feet long, 72feet wide and had a top speed of 16 knots. The US Shipping Board ordered it.

The Buckeye State was transferred to US authorities in 1923 and renamed the President Taft. In 1940, it was again transferred to Army Transportsn 1940 and got its third name, the Willard A. Holbrook.

On December 7, 1941, it was part of a convoy with 8 other ships heading for the Philippines. The main ship was the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola and the convoy was known as the Pensacola Convoy. Upon hearing news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the convoy was rerouted to Australia.

It took part in Pacific operations throughout the war.

After the war, it was sold and operated for the rest of its career as the Armin W. Leuschner until it was scrapped in Baltimore in 1957.

From Wikipedia which also has an article on the Pensacola Convoy.

What's in a Name? --Cooter