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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 86975:  USS Fuller in 1941

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Fuller (AP-14, later APA-7), 1941-1946
Previously S.S. Archer (American Freighter, 1919) and S.S. City of Newport News (American Passenger-Cargo Ship)

USS Fuller, a 8000-ton Heywood class transport, was built at Alameda, California, in 1919 as the 7899 gross ton freighter Archer. At that time she received the registry ID # 3785, but was not taken over by the Navy. When extensively modified during the later 1920s for passenger and cargo service, she was renamed City of Newport News. The Navy acquired her in November 1940 for conversion to a transport, renamed her Fuller (AP-14) and placed her in commission in April 1941. Fuller operated in the Atlantic for the next year, taking part in the occupation of Iceland in July 1941 as well as carrying out a busy schedule of amphibious training operations and transportation duties.

In April 1942, Fuller transferred to the Pacific, where she served for the rest of her career. She took part in the Guadalcanal invasion in August 1942 and operated in support of the long and difficult campaign to hold that island. In February 1943, the transport was redesignated APA-7 and during much of the rest of the year was kept busy carrying men and materiel from Pearl Harbor to the south Pacific and around the latter region. She was part of the Bougainville invasion force in November 1943 and was damaged in a Japanese air attack, though this did not prevent her continued employment in support of the ongoing Bougainville campaign.

Fuller shifted to the central Pacific in 1944, joining in the Saipan and Tinian operations during June and July. Following logistics service in the southern Pacific, she participated in the Peleliu and Leyte invasions in September and October. During 1945, she took part in amphibious assaults at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, in January and at Okinawa in April. Under overhaul until the end of the Pacific War in August, she then performed routine transport service along the U.S. West Coast until year's end. USS Fuller decommissioned in March 1946 and was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission in July 1946.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Fuller (AP-14, later APA-7), and the civilian steamship Archer and City of Newport News.


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 105784

S.S. Archer
(American Freighter, 1918)

In port, with troops on board, circa 1919 or the early 1920s.
Extensively rebuilt in about 1930 and renamed City of Newport News, this ship became USS Fuller (AP-14, later APA-7) in 1941.
The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.

Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image size: 73KB; 740 x 470 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 86975

USS Fuller (AP-14)


Fine-screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in 1941.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1978.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 550 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 47011

Occupation of Iceland, July 1941


Breakwater at Reykjavik, Iceland, circa 7-8 July 1941, with a landing craft heading in and transports unloading in the distance.
The ships are USS Fuller (AP-14), probably the transport at left, and USS William P. Biddle (AP-15).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 580 pixels

 


In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other view of USS Fuller (AP-14 and APA-7). The following list features this image:

The image listed below is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."



  • Photo #: 80-G-215946
    USS Fuller (APA-7) underway off the California coast, 17 January 1944.
    Starboard side aerial view, somewhat toward the bow, taken from a Naval Air Station Moffett Field aircraft.

    Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The image listed in this box is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 29 January 2002
    New image added 8 May 2008