USS Joseph T. Dickman, a 21,900-ton attack transport, was built at Camden, New Jersey, as the civilian passenger ship Peninsula State. Completed in 1922, she was soon renamed, initially becoming President Pierce and a few months later President Roosevelt. Operating commercially until 1940, she was then taken over by the War Department, renamed Joseph T. Dickman and converted to a troop transport. In May 1941 the Army transferred the ship to the Navy. Designated AP-26, she was commissioned in June and spent the next four months taking part in amphibious exercises and undergoing further shipyard work. Between November 1941 and January 1942 the ship carried British troops to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope.
After her return to the U.S. in February 1942 Joseph T. Dickman received modifications to better suit her for amphibious operations. She was employed in training and transport duties in the Caribbean area for much of the year, and in October and November 1942 participated in the invasion of Morocco. She made a transport voyage to the South Pacific between late December 1942 and mid-March 1943. Redesignated APA-13 in February 1943, Joseph T. Dickman steamed across the Atlantic to North Africa in May and in July landed troops during the invasion of Sicily. Participation in the Salerno operation in September 1943 was followed by transportation service in the Mediterranean during the next two months.
Joseph T. Dickman went to the British Isles in February 1944 to begin preparations for the invasion of France. During the Normandy invasion in June she was part of the force that assaulted "Utah" Beach. From mid-August until late October 1944 Joseph T. Dickman participated in the invasion of southern France and subsequent transport missions in that region.
With the amphibious phase of the European war at an end, in January 1945 Joseph T. Dickman went to the Pacific, initially carrying troops to the war zone and, in March and April, taking part in the Okinawa invasion. She was then employed on logistics duties until the summer, when she was converted to a casualty evacuation transport. This work was completed just before Japan's mid-August decision to surrender brought an end to the fighting. For the rest of 1945 Joseph T. Dickman helped bring veterans home from the former war zone. She was decommissioned in March 1946 and turned over to the Maritime Commission. Joseph T. Dickman was sold for scrapping in January 1948.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26, later APA-13).
For more images 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.
Photo #: NH 99278 USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26) Underway in April 1942. Note her pattern camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 26-G-12-14-43(4) USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) Photographed circa 1943. She had a U.S. Coast Guard crew. Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 99277 USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken while the ship was in port during World War II. Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 395 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-1947 (Color) USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) At sea in convoy with other transports, probably at the time of the Southern France invasion, August 1944. Photographed from USS Quincy (CA-71). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 530 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 99293 USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26, later APA-13) Identification drawing, prepared during World War II. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 28KB; 740 x 335 pixels |
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In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26, later APA-13). The following list features some of these images:
The images listed below are NOT in
the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26) in the Hampton Roads area, Virginia, 8 September 1942. Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads. Starboard quarter aerial view. The ship appears to be at anchor, with a boat alongside. She is painted in horizontal two-tone camouflage. As 80-G-10685, but aerial view taken from almost directly astern. As 80-G-10685, but starboard bow aerial view. As 80-G-10685, but port broadside (somewhat toward the stern) aerial view.
USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 8 April 1943. Taken from an aircraft based as Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads, Virginia. Aerial view from astern, and somewhat to starboard. View looks into the sun, so the ship is essentially seen in silhouette. As 80-G-62392, but starboard quarter aerial view, with the ship also seen in near-silhouette. As 80-G-62392, but port broadside (slightly toward the stern) aerial view. The ship is well-lighted on the near side. As 80-G-62393, but aerial view taken from ahead and to starboard. The near side of the ship is in shadow. As 80-G-62393, but high aerial view taken from aft and slightly to starboard. View essentially looks down on the ship. USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 8 April 1943. Port bow surface view. The ship is painted in horizontal two-tone camouflage.
Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
For more images 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 April 2004