SS ''Sea Marlin'' was a
C3-S-A2
Type C3-class ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment. The desi ...
cargo ship operated for the
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...
(WSA) by
Grace Lines during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
WSA allocated ''Sea Marlin'' to
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
requirements. ''Sea Marlin'' was crewed by
United States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...
s, with a contingent of the US Naval Armed Guards for the guns and had a complement of the US
Army Transportation Corps (Water Division) aboard for troop administration.
The ship was laid down 21 April 1943 for the
U.S. Maritime Commission (USMC) as hull #401, USMC #857 at
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and, as of 2023, is the largest private em ...
in Pascagoula Mississippi. ''Sea Marlin'' was launched on 27 September 1943, completed conversion to a 2,111 berth transport on 31 January 1944 and immediately delivered to WSA at
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
.
''Sea Marlin'' was registered with U.S. Official Number 244978, signal KVMO with home port of New Orleans at , with a registry length of , beam and depth of .
World War II
''Sea Marlin'' departed New Orleans on 9 February 1944 bound for the South West Pacific
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
destinations including the ports of Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
, Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in Australia, Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...
, Langemak in New Guinea and Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand. After return to San Francisco 28 April the ship departed in May for the New Guinea area with stops at Milne Bay, Oro Bay
Oro Bay is a bay in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, located southeast of Buna. The bay is located within the larger Dyke Ackland Bay. A port is operated by PNG Ports Corporation Limited with limited wharf facilities, located at .
History
Du ...
, Finschhafen
Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...
, Langemak and Seeadler on Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
with a return to San Francisco 9 July 1944.[The Army operated major embarkation ports at San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles. See ]New York Port of Embarkation
The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering th ...
for the scope of such ports that included the port facilities themselves, often the entire port, as well as associated camps, rail facilities and other transportation assets.
In the last half of 1944, the ship began supporting operations in the Central Pacific making two trips from San Francisco to Honolulu and then Eniwetok
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...
and Saipan
Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...
via Honolulu August to October 1944. Shifting to Seattle the ship departed 30 November 1944 for Honolulu, Eniwetok and Saipan with the addition of calls at Tinian
Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...
, Ulithi
Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State.
Name
The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...
, Angaur
, or in Palauan, is an island and state in the Island country, island nation of Palau.
History
Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to fam ...
, Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
...
, Manus Island, Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
, Noumea and Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census.
Geography
The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
with eventual return to San Francisco on 15 February 1945. On 10 March the ship again sailed for Honolulu, Eniwetok, Saipan,
Nouméa, Guadalcanal and Ulithi with the addition of Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
arriving back in San Francisco 19 July to depart again 31 July for Eniwetok and Ulithi with the addition of Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
.[ The ship was delayed for repairs there after a collision in ]Manila Bay
Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...
with the T2 type tanker on 26 August 1945. ''Sea Marlin'' reached Los Angeles on 13 November 1945.[ The last Pacific operation for ''Sea Marlin'' was departure from Los Angeles on 12 December for Okinawa and return 18 January 1946 to Portland, Oregon with 1,962 troops.][
In February, the ship transferred to the Atlantic making trips to ]Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
to return troops to the United States arriving in New York 1 April 1945. ''Sea Marlin'' then sailed for Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
arriving 2 May for deactivation and lay up.[
Among the units transported were: 17th Naval Construction Battalion & 31st Special Naval Construction Battalion (]Seabee
United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...
s), 96th Infantry Division Headquarters personnel, Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (Mexican Air Force
The Mexican Air Force (FAM; ) is the air service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and as such overseen by the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, in ...
) Escuadrón 201
The 201st Fighter Squadron () is a fighter squadron of the Mexican Air Force, part of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force that aided the Allied war effort during World War II. The squadron was known by the nickname ''Águilas Aztecas'' or "Az ...
,[Strike of the Aztec Eagles - the story]
/ref> 193rd Tank Battalion,
/ref> and the US Army Air Force Sixth Bombardment Group.
/ref>
Merchant ships did not receive battle stars but the ship's Naval Armed Guard received a Battle Star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...
for the Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto for the period 24—30 June 1945.
Post War Service
On May 2, 1946 ''Sea Marlin'' arrived at Norfolk for deactivation and entered the Reserve Fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully Ship decommissioning, decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothba ...
at Lee Hall, VA in the James River on 9 May. On 4 September the ship was removed from the reserve fleet under agreement with Moran Towing & Transportation Company for conversion under Maritime Commission contract to commercial configuration by the J.K Welding Company, Yonkers, NY for a cost of $300,000.[ ]Isthmian Steamship Company
The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910.
Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship ...
purchased ''Sea Marlin'' on 24 February 1947 for $1,280,730 changing its name to ''Steel Director''.[ In 1956 the ship was sold to States Marine Lines and operated under the same name until scrapped in 1971. ''Steel Director'' departed Saigon, South Vietnam on 17 May 1971 for Kaohsiung, Republic of China prior where she was to be scrapped the next month.][
]
Footnotes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Marlin
1943 ships
Type C3 ships
Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Merchant ships of the United States
United States Merchant Marine
Troop ships of the War Shipping Administration
World War II merchant ships of the United States