USS Ancon, a 14,150-ton (displacement) amphibious force flagship, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts, as the commercial passenger-cargo ship of the same name. In August 1942, after two and a half years of civilian operation and seven months as a U.S. Army transport, she was transferred to the Navy and commissioned as USS Ancon (AP-66). After a hasty conversion to a modified combat-loaded troop transport, she shook down in amphibious training operations along the East Coast. In November 1942 she participated in the assault on Fedhala, French Morocco, and then joined a convoy returning to Norfolk. Ancon made another voyage to North Africa carrying troops and cargo in early 1943.
In February 1943 Ancon entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for conversion to a combined headquarters and communications command ship and was redesignated AGC-4. The first completed of the Navy's special amphibious flagships, she commenced post-conversion trials in April. In June she sailed for Oran as part of the Sicily invasion force, and in July supported the Sicily invasion from a postion off Scoglitti. Returning to Algeria, Ancon prepared for the invasion of mainland Italy, which she helped lead at Salerno in September. In November she steamed to the United Kingdom, to begin preparing for the invasion of France. During the June 1944 Normandy invasion Ancon was flagship for the forces that landed on "Omaha" Beach, remaining off France for three weeks providing follow-on support. Early in the autumn she returned to the U.S. for an overhaul.
Reassigned to the Pacific Theater, Ancon ran post repair trials at the end of December 1944 and then sailed for San Diego and Hawaii, where she carried out training exercises in early February 1945. After additional exercises in the central Pacific, the AGC arrived off Okinawa at the beginning of April, and generally remained in that area, under constant threat of suicide plane attacks, until early June. Ancon then went to the Philippines to prepare for the planned invasion of Japan. In late August 1945, following the Japan's capitulation, she entered Tokyo Bay to support press activities. Her crew witnessed the 2 September surrender ceremony held on board USS Missouri while anchored nearby.
After transporting occupation troops to Japan from Saipan, in early October 1945 Ancon became the headquarters ship for the Strategic Bombing Survey of Japan. With this work completed, early in December she sailed for San Francisco. Proceeding to the East Coast soon after the beginning of 1946, USS Ancon was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard and returned to her former owners in February. She was stricken from the Navy List in April 1946. The S.S. Ancon's subsequent commercial career lasted until 1961, and was followed by more than a decade as the training ship State of Maine. The veteran ship was sold for scrapping in May 1973.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have of USS Ancon (AP-66, later AGC-4), as well as providing links to selected views taken on board the ship.
For other images concerning 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.
Photo #: NH 95389 USS Ancon (AGC-4) In Chesapeake Bay on 8 May 1943, after conversion from a troop transport to an amphibious command ship (AGC). Note that some of her civilian bow ornamentation, although painted over, is still visible. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99148 USS Ancon (AGC-4) Photographed on 11 June 1943 during preparations for the invasion of Sicily. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-257287 Normandy Invasion, June 1944 USS Ancon (AGC-4), command ship for the "Omaha" Beach landings, stands offshore on 7 June 1944. USS PC-564 is in the foreground. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 95391 USS Ancon (AGC-4) Photographed on 21 December 1944 off the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard. She is wearing Measure 31a, Design 18Ax camouflage and has a small hull number on the bow. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 47KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 95390 USS Ancon (AGC-4) Photographed probably on 21 December 1944 off the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard. She is wearing Measure 31a, Design 18Ax camouflage. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 95392-A USS Ancon (AGC-4) Photographed on 21 December 1944 off the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard. She is wearing Measure 31a, Design 18Ax camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99149 USS Ancon (AGC-4) Photographed probably on 21 December 1944 off the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99150 USS Ancon (AGC-4) Probably photographed in the Pacific during 1945. She is wearing Measure 31a, Design 18Ax camouflage and has a large hull number on the bow. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 545 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99239 USS Ancon (AGC-4) In a harbor, 1945, probably in the Pacific. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 18Ax. Photograph by the Maine Maritime Academy, for which she served as the training ship State of Maine from 1962 to 1973. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 545 pixels |
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Photo #: SC 210637 USS Ancon (AGC-4) With the fleet in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 during the formal Japanese surrender, as Navy carrier planes fly in formation overhead. She is wearing camouflage and has a large hull number on the bow. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 625 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. Note: This appears to be a composite photograph. The small images of U.S. fast battleships at the lower left and lower right were added to this photograph after it was taken. |
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Photo #: NH 98751 USS Ancon (AGC-4) In San Francisco Bay, California, circa December 1945. Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 81030 USS Ancon (AGC-4) In San Francisco Bay, California, circa December 1945. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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For other images concerning this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 March 2004