USS Wharton
USS Wharton (AP-7) was a troop transport in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was originally an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 type built for the United States Shipping Board. The ship was laid down as Manmasco but renamed and launched as Sea Girt then completed September 1921 as Southern Cross. The ship was first allocated by the United States Shipping Board to the Munson Steamship Line until purchased by the line in 1925. Munson operated the Southern Cross in the South American trade from 1921 until 1938 when the ship was sold at a Marshall's sale and taken over by the United States Maritime Commission which paid the full mortgage claim.
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Franklin Wharton |
| Laid down | 8 October 1918 |
| Launched | 20 July 1919 |
| Completed | 24 September 1921 |
| Acquired | 8 November 1939 |
| Commissioned | 7 December 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 26 March 1947 |
| Stricken | 4 April 1947 |
| Honors and awards | 3 battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 21 March 1952 |
| Notes | U.S. Official Number: 221574 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Design 1029 ship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 636 ft 2 in (193.90 m) |
| Beam | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft 3 in (9.53 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam turbine |
| Speed | 16.6 knots (30.7 km/h; 19.1 mph) |
| Complement | 666 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
Southern Cross was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 8 November 1939 and two days later renamed Wharton and designated a transport with the hull number AP-7. She was converted to a troop transport by the Todd Shipbuilding Corp., in the Robbins Drydock in Erie Basin at Brooklyn, New York. The transport was commissioned USS Wharton at the New York Navy Yard on 7 December 1940.