USAHS Blanche F. Sigman - Hospital Ship

Hospital Ship

In late November 1943 the ship was transferred by the WSA to the War Department for operation as a Hague Convention hospital ship by the U.S. Army. The ship put into the Todd Hoboken Shipyard at the Port of New York for conversion, remaining there until completion on 30 June 1944. The ship was initially assigned the name Poppy, under the then-current policy of naming Army hospital ships after flowers, but never operated under that name. The ship was instead named after First Lieutenant Blanche F. Sigman, a U.S. Army nurse killed in action on 7 February 1944 on the beachhead during Operation Shingle, the Allied landings at Anzio.

After sailing for the Clyde and back to New York in July on its first mercy mission, Blanche F. Sigman moved to its new homeport of Charleston in August 1944. Sailing later that month, the Sigman headed to the Mersey and Liverpool. In October the ship sailed for Gibraltar, Oran, and Leghorn. In December, it repeated its previous voyage but also stopped at Naples as well, eventually making its way back to Charleston in January 1945. Throughout 1945, the hospital ship made six transatlantic treks, visiting Marseille three times, Naples, Oran, Gibraltar, Milford Haven, Wales, Avonmouth, Cherbourg, and Horta. The Sigman's sixth mission of the year was a return trip to Cherbourg that ended with a return to its new homeport of New York.

From New York, Blanche F. Sigman made three sojourns, calling at Cherbourg for a third time, Bremerhaven three times, The Downs, and Le Havre. While in Europe during the third trip, the ship was decommissioned as a hospital ship in April 1946 and returned to New York with a load of Army and Red Cross nurses, and members of the Women's Army Corps. Throughout 1947 and into 1948, the Sigman made numerous trips for the Army, primarily between Bremerhaven and New York.

On 22 November 1948, Blanche F. Sigman entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at the James River in Virginia. Loaded with permanent ballast of 600 long tons (610 t) of pig iron and 490 long tons (500 t) of concrete blocks, the former hospital ship sat in mothballs for 25 years before being offered for disposal in late 1973. The ship was awarded to Max Wender for scrapping on 23 January 1974 for $145,115, and was withdrawn from the and delivered to Wender on 17 May 1974.