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Photo # NH 98761:  USS General J. C. Breckinridge in San Francisco Bay, California, in 1946.

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

USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176), 1945-1987 --
Views taken before the mid-1950s

USS General J. C. Breckinridge, a 11,828-ton (light displacement) General John Pope class transport, was built at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Maritime Commission to its P2-S2-R2 design. She was commissioned with a U.S. Coast Guard crew in June 1945 and was enroute to Marseilles, France, on her first operational voyage when the Japanese surrender ended World War II. The transport made four more voyages to France to bring troops home, then was transferred to the Pacific, arriving at San Francisco in January 1946. A Navy crew replaced her Coast Guard crew there in February, probably after she was selected as one of six ships of her class to be retained in the postwar commissioned fleet. Following five trans-Pacific voyages, between October 1946 and January 1947 General J. C. Breckinridge was then converted at Philadelphia for peacetime employment, with special facilities for military dependents. She retained her armament but lost some of her lifeboats. Breckinridge then returned to the Pacific where she maintained a busy schedule of voyages between the west coast and numerous points in the Western Pacific. In October 1949 all the ships in the Naval Transportation Service were reassigned to the newly-created Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). As a ship operationally subordinate to MSTS she was redesignated T-AP-176, but because she was a commissioned vessel with a Navy, not civilian, crew, General J. C. Breckinridge retained the designation "USS" instead of becoming "USNS."

In July 1950, immediately after the outbreak of the Korean War, General J. C. Breckinridge was reconverted to a troop transport at San Francisco and in August carried troops from Seattle to Yokosuka, Japan. She was diverted from her return voyage to support the assault on Inchon, where she arrived with fresh troops the day after the landing. In November 1950 she assisted in the evacuation of Wonsan, and in December she helped evacuate Hungnam. General J. C. Breckinridge made two more troop voyages during the fighting in Korea and then returned to regular MSTS transport duty, carrying both military and civilian passengers throughout the Pacific area. In 1955 or 1956 she was again modified, losing her armament and receiving additional lifeboats. She remained an active part of the MSTS nucleus fleet as one of its few commissioned ships until December 1965, when she was inactivated and turned over to the Maritime Administration for layup in its reserve fleet. General J. C. Breckinridge was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and permanently transferred to the Maritime Administration in December 1966. The Maritime Administration sold her in August 1987 to a Japanese firm for scrapping.

This page features, or provides links to, most of the views we have related to USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176). Photos on this page show the ship before her armament was removed in the mid-1950s.

For other images concerning this ship, see:

  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176) -- Views taken before the mid-1950s (Part II).
  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (T-AP-176) -- Views taken after the mid-1950s.
  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176) -- Activities and On Board Views.


    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 104635

    USS General J.C. Breckinridge
    (AP-176)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1945-1946.

    Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 415 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98761

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge
    (AP-176)

    In San Francisco Bay circa early 1946 bringing servicemen home from the western Pacific. Many of her several thousand passengers are topsides watching her arrival.

    Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 550 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 104042

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge
    (T-AP-176)

    At Pearl Harbor, circa 1946-1947.
    Note the large improvised covers over her forward 5-inch guns, which are probably in a state of preservation. Different style covers were used on different ships of this class.
    The ship's paint scheme may be that of the Naval Transportation Service (NTS), which was replaced by the Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS) in 1949.

    Collection of Rear Admiral Bradford Bartlett, USN.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph

    Online Image: 41KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 104041

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge
    (T-AP-176)

    Underway at Pearl Harbor circa 1946-1947.
    Three of her 5-inch guns are in a state of preservation under improvised covers, but the fourth, right aft, may be operational.

    Collection of Rear Admiral Bradford Bartlett, USN.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph

    Online Image: 43KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-425439

    USS General J.C. Breckinridge (AP-176)


    Docks at Pusan, South Korea, with troops she had evacuated from Hungnam, circa late December 1950.
    This photograph was received by the Naval Photographic Center on 18 January 1951.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 104018

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge
    (T-AP-176)

    Operating during the Korean War.
    Her armament, which had been mothballed on board after World War II, is again fully functional.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph,
    from the Military Sealift Command collection.

    Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 104014

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge
    (T-AP-176)

    Arriving in San Francisco Bay, California, with members of the First Marine Division from Korea, 5 March 1951.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-427206

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176)


    Arrives at San Francisco, California, 5 March 1951.
    Note troops crowded on deck, welcoming fireboat and Alcatraz prison in the background.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 132KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-427205

    USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176)


    Arrives at San Francisco, California, 5 March 1951.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 123KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For other images concerning this ship, see:

  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176) -- Views taken before the mid-1950s (Part II).
  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (T-AP-176) -- Views taken after the mid-1950s.
  • USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176, later T-AP-176) -- Activities and On Board Views.


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


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 16 October 2006
    New image added 12 February 2007