As General William O. Darby
Turned over to the Army for operation with the Army Transport Service (ATS), the ship was renamed General William O. Darby in honor of Brigadier General William O. Darby, USA (1911–1945), leader of the famed World War II "Darby's Rangers" who distinguished themselves in combat in North Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. He was killed in action on the Italian front on 30 April 1945, while serving as Assistant Commander of the 10th Mountain Division.
After operations with the ATS as USAT General William O. Darby, the ship was reacquired by the Navy on 1 March 1950 and reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register on 28 April 1950 as USNS General William O. Darby (T-AP-127). Operating out of New York under the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), the transport steamed between Europe and the Mediterranean Sea carrying troops on rotation, military dependents, and supplies. Between 1950 and 1953, she made more than 20 round trip voyages to Bremerhaven, Germany, and back. In November 1951, the ship veered 100 miles off course to respond to an SOS from a German freighter in the Bay of Biscay. Thirteen of General William O. Darby's sailors volunteered to man a lifeboat and brave the 30-foot seas to transfer a critically burned German sailor to the transport for medical treatment.
Departing New York on 20 June 1953, General William O. Darby proceeded to Yokosuka, Japan, via the Panama Canal, arriving at the Japanese port on 17 July to embark Korean War veterans. Returning to Seattle on 29 July, the transport made five more round-trip voyages between the west coast of the United States and Japan during the next five months. After returning to San Francisco on 23 January 1954, she sailed for the east coast on the 25th to resume operations with MSTS (Atlantic), and reached New York on 8 February. During 1954 and 1955, the ship conducted 12 and 13 round-trips, respectively, and, in the first six months of 1956, conducted seven before being deployed to the Mediterranean to support the operations of the 6th Fleet.
Ranging from North Africa to Turkey during that tour, she eventually returned to New York on 6 August 1956. Between 1956 and 1965, the ship conducted some 135 runs to Bremerhaven and back, deploying to the Mediterranean on nine occasions. During the period, the ship took part in the mass movement of 50,000 troops to Cherbourg and Bremerhaven during the Berlin crisis in the autumn of 1961, the biggest troop-lift for MSTS since the s:Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953. In February 1963, General William O. Darby brought back from Bremerhaven two paintings loaned temporarily to the United States from the French Louvre, Whistler's Mother and La Madeleine. Scheduled to be shown at a succession of art galleries from New York to Atlanta, the two art treasures were met upon arrival at Pier 4, Brooklyn Army Terminal, by cultural attaches from the French embassy.
With the buildup of American strength in Vietnam in 1965, all six MSTS (Atlantic) transports, including General William O. Darby, were withdrawn from the New York-to-Bremerhaven run and assigned to duty in the Pacific. Transatlantic sailings were canceled in late July 1965. General William O. Darby and her sister ship, USNS General Alexander M. Patch (T-AP-122), carried out the longest point-to-point trooplift in MSTS history when they arrived at Vung Tau, Vietnam, on 13 August 1966 with 3,124 troops embarked between them, having sailed from Boston a voyage of 12,358 miles. They had departed the east coast on 15 July, transited the Panama Canal on the 20th, and fueled at Long Beach on the 27th. The longest leg of the voyage was non-stop, Long Beach to Vung Tau, a distance of some 7,291 miles. The Pacific leg of the trip was for the most part smooth as glass for the whole crossing with the exception of a day or two of 15 foot swells. Since there were no docking facilities in Vung Tau, the troups were transported to shore on landing craft.
Placed in reserve at Caven Point Army Depot in New York harbor in 1968, General William O. Darby was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 January 1969 and transferred to the Maritime Commission's reserve fleet. At one point in 1976, the state of Maryland expressed an interest in alleviating its overcrowded correctional facilities by the use of the ship. Vehement objections to the retention of the name of the Army war hero on a ship designated to incarcerate prisoners apparently arose, contributing in large part to the cancellation of the ship's name on 6 July 1976. The ship, herself, now merely the unnamed T-AP-127, remained on the Naval Vessel Register.
General William O. Darby (T-AP-127) was awarded one battle star for her service during the Vietnam War.
Read more about this topic: USS Admiral W. S. Sims (AP-127)