In mid-August 1919 USS Great Northern, built in 1915 as a commercial passenger liner, was transferred to the War Department and began service as the U.S. Army transport of the same name. During the rest of that year and in 1920 she made several voyages in the Pacific, bringing home some 3,000 U.S. service personnel who had been stationed in eastern Russia, and taking U.S. Congressmen on an inspection trip to Hawaii, the Philippines and Hong Kong. She was reacquired by the Navy in August 1921 for use as a flagship, being renamed Columbia (AG-9) in November. As S.S. H.F. Alexander, she was again in commercial service from 1922 until the early 1940s.
In late July 1942 the U.S. War Shipping Administration purchased H.F. Alexander from the British Ministry of War Transport. She was overhauled and altered at Boston, Massachusetts, between August and November of that year, then entered service as the U.S. Army Transport George S. Simonds. Beginning in February 1943 she made several voyages across the Atlantic, calling at ports in North and South Africa, Gibraltar and the British Isles. In mid-1944 the transport was used for local service in the waters of the United Kingdom. From August 1944 into early 1946 George S. Simonds served between the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast, mainly transporting Jamaican workers. Laid up in the James River, Virginia, in March 1946, she remained there until sold for breaking up in February 1948.
This page features all the views we have concerning the U.S. Army Transports Great Northern and George S. Simonds. It also provides views of this ship during her U.S. Navy and civilian service
For additional views related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
For additional views related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 30 January 2006