USS ''J. Franklin Bell'' (APA-16) was a ship. She was built in 1921 and spent 20 years in merchant service as a passenger and

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

. She was acquired for the

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 ...

in 1940 and transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

shortly after the USA entered the Second World War. She served throughout and after the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped in 1948.

Building

The vessel was designed to be an army transport, ordered by the USSB from

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 ...

and laid down in 1918. ''Keystone State'' was launched on 15 May 1920 sponsored by the wife of the company's president, Mrs. Marvin A. Neeland. The ship was completed on 1 March 1921. ''Keystone State'' was a turbine steamship, with eight

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. is an American energy technology and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Historically, the company is best known for their stea ...

header-type boilers supplying steam to four

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

Curtis type

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

. Her four turbines drove twin

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

shafts by single reduction gearing. Her engines developed 12,000

shaft horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

and gave her a speed of – as fast as many

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

s of her time.

Civilian service

Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...

operated her as a passenger and cargo ship from 28 May 1921. On 6 August she started her maiden voyage, which was from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. In 1922 she was renamed ''President McKinley'' on 9 June and transferred to Admiral Oriental Lines on 21 December. She was transferred to

American Mail Line American Mail Line of Seattle, Washington was a commercial steamship service with routes to and from Seattle, Washington and the Far East. American Mail Line was founded in 1920, by Pacific Steamship Company also with a $500,000 investment from ...

in 1926 and laid up in Seattle in 1938.

SS ''President Hoover''

Early on the morning of 11 December 1937 a Dollar Steamship Company

, , ran aground in a

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

on Kasho-to, east of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

. ''Hoover''s 330 crew got their 503 passengers and themselves safely ashore without loss, but the 853 people now needed to be taken off the remote island. The task was shared between ''President McKinley'' and Dollar Line's SS ''President Pierce''. ''McKinley'', assisted by the , collected about 630 people from Kasho-to on 14 December. ''Pierce'' collected the remaining 200 people on 15 December.

War service

The

acquired her on 26 October 1940 and had her converted into a military transport. She was renamed ''J. Franklin Bell'' after General

J. Franklin Bell James Franklin Bell (January 9, 1856 – January 8, 1919) was an officer in the United States Army who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1906 to 1910. Bell was a Major general (United States), major general in the Regular ...

, US Army Chief of Staff 1906–10. She was transferred to the

on 26 December 1941; and commissioned in ordinary before commissioning in full at San Francisco on 2 April 1942 under the command of Captain H.J. Grassie. After shakedown, a round-trip voyage 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 ...

, and more than 2 months of

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

training along the California coast, ''J. Franklin Bell'' left San Francisco 13 August and headed ''via''

Kodiak, Alaska Kodiak (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ) is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...

Adak Adak may refer to: Places *Adak Island, one of the Aleutian Islands **Adak, Alaska, a town on the above island ** Adak Airport, airport serving the town *** Adak Army Airfield, original name of the airport (1942–c.1943) *** Davis Army Airfield, ...

. She carried some 1,500 troops and a full load of cargo to strengthen American defenses in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

, then threatened with invasion.

Aleutian landings

On returning

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 ...

29 September, ''J. Franklin Bell'' resumed coastal operations and amphibious training in preparation for taking the offensive in the Aleutians by recapturing

Attu Island Attu (, ) is an island in the Near Islands (part of the Aleutian Islands chain). It is one of the westernmost points of the U.S. state of Alaska. The island became uninhabited in 2010, making it the largest uninhabited island that is part of th ...

. Reclassified APA-16 February 1, 1943, she continued rehearsals until sailing to San Francisco 16 April to embark troops and their equipment. She sailed on 24 April for

Cold Bay, Alaska Cold Bay (,; Sugpiaq: ''Pualu'') is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 108, but at the 2020 census this had reduced to 50. Cold Bay is one of the main commercial centers of the ...

. Though hampered by heavy seas, her task force arrived off Attu 11 May in a dense fog. ''J. Franklin Bell'', now under Comdr. J.B. McGovern, began landing operations. Submerged rocks, pea soup weather, and narrow, rocky beaches permitted only two or three boats to be unloaded at a time. Two days later she started unloading around the clock, enabling her to finish the task, embark casualties, and head for home by 16 May. After training throughout June, she embarked some 1,750 soldiers and, after 2 weeks of landing rehearsals, left San Diego on 29 July for Adak. At the end of a week of weather and terrain conditioning there, she steamed for

Kiska Kiska (, ) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required to visit it. The island has ...

13 August. Her landing boats went ashore through rough surf and found the enemy had withdrawn. She completed unloading operations in 2 days, embarked 600 troops and sailed for San Francisco on the 20th. At San Francisco she discharged the troops and embarked naval passengers for

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, where she arrived 30 September. In the following month of amphibious assault training, Captain O.H. Ritchie took command 22 October. After embarking 1,800 marines she sailed on 1 November for final landing rehearsals before departing 13 November to invade

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

was the conquest of the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...

. During midwatch on 20 November, ''J. Franklin Bell'' took her assigned position off

Betio Betio is the name of both an island and a township within the Tarawa Atoll, part of the Republic of Kiribati. Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and it is also the country's primary port. Betio is located on ...

, the most heavily defended Japanese garrison on

Tarawa Atoll Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Kiribati, Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''The World ...

. Heavy bombardment by the US Navy began at 0515 hrs, and the enemy responded with scattered fire at the transports. Straddled by gunfire, ''J. Franklin Bell'' retired out of range and, while the battle continued ashore, awaited orders to land her troops. The next day she sailed to

Bairiki Bairiki is a town located in South Tarawa, Kiribati. It is crucial to the country's political and administrative structure as several governmental organizations and diplomatic missions are situated there. Landmarks The State House, a building ...

and landed her

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

. Finding only dead enemies, they boarded landing boats and moved from island to island along the atoll. Meanwhile, after the Bairiki landings, ''J. Franklin Bell'' began sending cargo ashore. The Marines secured Betio on the 23rd and the entire atoll on 27 November, and ''J. Franklin Bell'' departed with Marines embarked for Pearl Harbor.

Invasion of Kwajalein

After a month of training in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, the transport embarked more than 1,500 soldiers and sailed for

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...

. When she arrived on 31 January, fire support ships were bombarding enemy shore installations in preparation for landings the next day. ''J. Franklin Bell'' entered the lagoon 2 February to unload supplies and receive casualties. On the 5th her landing boats assaulted Gugegwe, and two days later the atoll was secured. The transport departed on 8 February carrying more than 2,000 soldiers, and reached Pearl Harbor on the 15th.

Invasion of Saipan

''J. Franklin Bell'' then made two round trips to the US mainland before embarking soldiers and sailing for the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

. She arrived off

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 ...

16 June, the day after the first landings; and debarked her troops on the 17th. After unloading supplies she retired some northeast of Saipan to await the outcome of the

Battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a major naval battle of World War II on 19–20 June 1944 that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious r ...

19–21 June. When the battle was won she returned to Saipan on 25 June, completed unloading and embarked casualties. She then sailed to

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 ...

, loaded more cargo and headed ''via'' Saipan to embark Marines for the assault on nearby

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 ...

Invasion of Tinian

Departing on 24 July, ''J. Franklin Bell'' joined in a diversionary operation at the southern end of Tinian. Under cover of a fierce bombardment, the transport feigned two landings to divert enemy attention while the real landings were made at the northern end of the island. After this successful subterfuge she sailed to the actual beachheads and landed her troops. She embarked casualties the next afternoon and returned to Saipan on the 27th. She left the next day carrying 438 Japanese prisoners, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 August.

Invasion of Leyte

''J. Franklin Bell'' returned to the Western Pacific, putting into

Manus Manus may refer to: Relating to locations around New Guinea *Manus Island, a Papua New Guinean island in the Admiralty Archipelago ** Manus languages, languages spoken on Manus and islands close by ** Manus Regional Processing Centre, an offshore ...

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

on 3 October to embark 1,600 assault troops for the invasion of 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 ...

. She headed for

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf, also known simply as the Leyte, is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the ...

on 14 October and arrived off

Dulag, Leyte Dulag (IPA: ʊ'lag, officially the Municipality of Dulag (; ), is a municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,992 people. This coastal town has 11,007 hectares of land and lies ...

on 20 October. After quickly debarking her troops she began unloading supplies and receiving casualties. Defying repeated air attacks, she unloaded supplies into LCTs all day and night, completing the task shortly after noon the next day. Then she left with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

Sir Roger Keyes aboard, arriving in Manus on the 27th.

Invasion of Okinawa

After a voyage to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, ''J. Franklin Bell'' left Manus for San Francisco and arrived 27 November. She left again on 28 February 1945, reaching at

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on 18 April. After landing exercises and embarking

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 and their equipment, she headed for

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 ...

''via'' Eniwetok and

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 ...

. She dropped anchor at

Hagushi Hagushi bay is located in Yomitan, Okinawa Island, Okinawa. The bay is at the mouth of Hija River. The north side of the mouth of the river has a public beach called Toguchi Beach. World War II Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for ...

, 17 June to debark her Seabees. Subjected to frequent air alerts, she completed her unloading under cover of a smoke screen late the following afternoon. She departed on the 22nd, carrying 862 casualties to Saipan before proceeding to

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 ...

and Nouméa to embark homebound casualties. She left Nouméa on 11 July with more than 1,700 passengers and reached San Francisco on the 27th.

After hostilities

On 2 September Japan surrendered, and on 21 September ''J. Franklin Bell'' sailed for the Western Pacific, carrying troops to Eniwetok, Okinawa, and Leyte. After boarding homebound passengers at Leyte, she sailed on 27 October and reached Seattle on 12 November. She began coastal operations on the 22nd, shuttling between

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and California ports.

Decommission

''J. Franklin Bell'' arrived at

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...

, California, 20 March 1946 and was decommissioned the same day. She was transferred to 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 ...

for disposal, and sold for scrap on 3 April 1948 to Boston Metals of

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 ...

, Maryland.

Awards

''J. Franklin Bell'' received six

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 World War II service.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:J. Franklin Bell APA-16 Design 1029 ships Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation 1921 ships Design 1029 ships of the United States Army Harris-class attack transports World War II auxiliary ships of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign