USNS ''Upshur'' (T-AP-198), was a Barrett-class

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

named in honor of Major General William P. Upshur of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

.Naval Historical Center: ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'', Upshur

n.d., accessed 6 January 2014. The hull of ''Upshur'' was laid down on 1 September 1949 by the

New York Shipbuilding Corporation The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

as the SS ''President Hayes''. Designed in 1947 as a passenger-cargo ship for the American President Lines' post-

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 ...

replacement program,US Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration: ''National Register Eligibility Assessment, Vessel: TS State of Maine, ex-USNS Upshur (T-AP-198)'', http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/State_of_Maine_NHPA_History.pdf Date: 29 September 2009. before she was completed in her civilian configuration, she was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and converted for troop and dependent

. Reassigned to the US Navy and renamed USNS ''Upshur'', she served the Military Sea Transportation Service from 1952 to 1973. Over her years of service she performed many routine missions, carrying military members and their families safely across the seas in an era when air travel was uncommon, as well as special missions, such as the emergency evacuation of military families from

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by the U.S. military) is a United States military base located on of land and water on the shore of Guant ...

in 1962.Robert G. Brown, LT, CHC, USN: ''Guantanamo Bay Evacuation'', http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/2012/USNS-Upshur-Evacuation-Account.pdf, n.d., accessed 6 January 2014. In 1973 USNS ''Upshur'' was placed out of service and transferred to the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD), and provided to the

Maine Maritime Academy Maine Maritime Academy (Maine Maritime or MMA) is a public college focused on maritime training and located in Castine, Maine. The academy was established by the 90th Maine Legislature on March 21, 1941. Unlike federal service academies, a cong ...

for use as a merchant marine training ship. Renamed TV ''State of Maine'', she served from 1973 to 1995 in service of the academy, with temporary assignments to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. In 1995 ex-USNS ''Upshur'' was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and relocated to

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 ...

as a platform for testing maritime

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

technology by the U.S. Coast Guard Fire & Safety Test Detachment in Mobile. In 2005,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

broke the ex-USNS ''Upshur'' free of her moorings and settled her 500 feet across the

Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georg ...

on the bank of a coal terminal. In 2008 she suffered further damage when

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

hit the area, and the vessel bottomed out and sat at a ten‐degree list. According to Google Earth, the vessel was removed from Little Sand Island between May 2010 and July 2011. USNS ''Upshur'' is associated with noted naval architect George G. Sharp and participated in several notable events in U.S. history, but, based on her current condition,

MARAD Marad (Sumerian: Marda, modern Tell Wannat es-Sadum or Tell as-Sadoum (also Wana-Sedoum), Iraq) was an ancient Near Eastern city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in moder ...

has determined that she is not eligible for listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. ''Upshur'' was scrapped at

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

in 2011.

Sources

External links

NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive, USNS Upshur (T-AP-198)

* ttp://www.174ahc.org/upshur01.htm Photos of USNS ''Upshur'' from the 174th Assault Helicopter Company webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:Upshur (T-AP-198) 1951 ships Ocean liners Steamships of the United States Passenger ships of the United States Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation