USS ''General C. H. Muir'' (AP-142) was a for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

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 ...

. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning. She was named in honor of

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...

general

Charles Henry Muir Charles Henry Muir (July 18, 1860 – December 8, 1933) was a United States Army officer. He served from 1885 to 1920, and attained the rank of major general. During the final year of World War I, he commanded the 28th Division throughout most ...

. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT ''General C. H. Muir'' in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the

Military Sea Transportation Service The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

(MSTS) as USNS ''General C. H. Muir'' (T-AP-142). She was later sold for commercial operation under the names SS ''Chicago'' and SS ''San Juan'', and was scrapped some time after 1985.

Operational history

''General C. H. Muir'' (AP-142) was launched 24 November 1944 under

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, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

contract (MC #709) by Kaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3,

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

; sponsored by Mrs. John H. Deasy; acquired and commissioned 12 April 1945 at Portland. Following shakedown off

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, ''General C. H. Muir'' departed 13 May from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

for her first troop-carrying voyage to the war zones of the Pacific. The ship brought troops to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

; served briefly as a receiving ship in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

; and returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

14 August 1945. The long Pacific war over, ''General C. H. Muir'' sailed 3 September to pick up returning veterans at

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

ports. She arrived New York 1 November, and then, retracing her steps to bring home another full contingent of troops, she finally returned New York 9 January 1946. The ship made three subsequent voyages, one to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and two to Europe, before decommissioning at

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

18 June 1946. She was returned to the Maritime Commission on that day and turned over to the Army Transportation Service. On 16 June 1949 she left Bremerhaven, Germany and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on 24 June 1949. Reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950, ''General C. H. Muir'' began operations under MSTS and was re-designated T-AP-142. On 16 March 1950 USNS ''General C. H. Muir'' arrived in

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 ...

with 1,278

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s from Europe. This voyage was one of almost 150 "Fifth Fleet" voyages by some 40 ships bringing refugees of World War II to Australia. ''General C. H. Muir'' made one more such trip herself, arriving in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

with 1,280 refugees on 26 October 1950. In Ancestry .com link she is mentioned arriving in New York carrying refugees from Bremen Germany 17 May 1951. On the list were 4 Latvian DPs. In Ancestry .com link she is mentioned arriving in New York from Bremerhaven, Germany 26 April 1952. In addition to runs to Australia, the transport supported American forces in Europe, and on eastward crossings of the Atlantic brought back to the United States thousands of refugees under the

International Refugee Organization The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was an intergovernmental organization founded on 20 April 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. ...

. In late 1952 the ship sailed from New York through the Mediterranean and thence through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

bringing reinforcements to U.N. troops fighting in Korea. She made another long rotation voyage, stopping at many European and Asian ports before being placed in Reduced Operational Status at New York 30 September 1953. In August 1954 ''General C. H. Muir'' steamed through the Panama Canal to San Francisco and sailed once more to Korea with replacement troops. Upon her return the ship was placed in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and s ...

at San Diego, 7 February 1955. She was returned to the

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issu ...

in 1960. She entered the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

30 June, and was berthed at Suisun Bay, California until 1968. At that time, the ship was sold under the MARAD Ship Exchange Program to

Sea-Land Service The Principality of Sealand () is a micronation on HM Fort Roughs (also known as Roughs Tower), an offshore platform in the North Sea. It is situated on Rough Sands, a sandbar located approximately from the coast of Suffolk and from the coa ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. In 1969 Sea Land had

Todd Shipyard Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United St ...

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

convert her to an 18,455-gross ton

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

named SS ''Chicago'', USCG ON 516542, IMO 6904806. The ship was sold in 1975 to Navieras de Puerto Rico, also known as the

Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Authority Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...

, of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, who renamed her SS ''San Juan''. The veteran ship operated through 1985, and was scrapped in 1988. ''General C. H. Muir'' received two

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 ...

s for Korean War service. The General Muir, restaurant and deli, Atlanta, Georgia, is named for this ship.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

*
Account of an Atlantic crossing
on USAT ''General C. H. Muir'' by an immigrant to Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:General C. H. Muir C. H. Muir Transport ships of the United States Army Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in Richmond, California 1944 ships Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet