SS Samuel Huntington - Service History

Service History

Ten days after her delivery, Samuel Huntington departed San Francisco for Los Angeles. Sailing from that port on 31 May 1942, she arrived at Suva in the Fiji Islands on 19 June. After the Huntington made her way to Lautoka, she departed there on 6 July for Chile. After arriving at Antofagasta on 29 July, the cargo ship worked her way up and down the South American coast, calling at Iquique on 30 July, Valparaiso on 7 August, and Punta Arenas on 13 August. Sailing from Punta Arenas the next day, she navigated the Straits of Magellan, crossed the South Atlantic, and arrived at Cape Town, South Africa, on 2 September.

Sailing from Cape Town on 6 September, Samuel Huntington sailed around the African continent, calling at Durban on 10 September, and arriving at Aden, on the Arabian peninsula, in mid September. Departing there on 24 September, the Huntington sailed up the Red Sea, calling at Massaua on the Eritrean coast on 26 September and Suez on 1 October. Departing Suez on 12 October, she retraced her track around Africa, calling at Port Sudan on 18 October, Durban on 2 November, Cape Town on 7 November. Leaving the same day, she crossed the South Atlantic and headed for Paramaribo, Suriname.

Samuel Huntington arrived at Paramaribo on 27 November, and sailed three days later for Trinidad. After arriving at that Caribbean port on 1 December, the Huntington waited for a week before sailing in convoy TAG-27 to Guantanamo Bay with 12 other ships. After arriving at Guantanamo Bay on 12 December, the convoy, dropping four ships, reformed as convoy GN.27 headed for New York City and departed the same day. The Huntington, calling at a U.S. port for the first time in seven months, arrived at New York on 19 December.

The Huntington departed New York as a part of Convoy SC-118 headed for Liverpool via Halifax on 24 January. As the convoy, which consisted of 60 ships and 26 escorts, sailed near Iceland, a wolf pack of Kriegsmarine U-Boats attacked the convoy repeatedly over a four-day period. Some 20 U-boats participated, sinking 12 Allied ships, including Henry R. Mallory, a troop transport that went down with 272 men—more than half of her passengers and crew; three U-boats were lost. Samuel Huntington departed the convoy and arrived at Clyde on 11 February.

After calling at Belfast Lough in early April, Samuel Huntington made her way to Liverpool to join Convoy ON 181 to New York. Departing on 30 April as one of 48 merchant ships in the convoy, the liberty ship made port at New York on 17 May. The convoy reported no submarine activity, and about two-thirds of the convoy were able to take target practice on icebergs during the voyage.

Samuel Huntington next departed New York on 13 June for Oran as a part of Convoy UGS-10. Joining 74 other merchant ships and their 28 escorts, the Huntington made it safely to Oran on 5 July; another ship in the convoy was sunk by a U-boat. During her participation in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Huntington and fellow liberty ships William W. Gerhard and William Mulholland all suffered casualties from an air attack on 1 August at Palermo. Damage to the ship was apparently minor enough that she was ready to sail nine days later, when she joined Convoy GUS-12—which had originated in Alexandria and was destined for Hampton Roads, Virginia—to return to the United States. Samuel Huntington left the convoy as it neared the U.S. east coast, and headed for New York, arriving there on 5 September.

After making her way to Hampton Roads, Samuel Huntington departed for Casablanca on 5 October as part of Convoy UGS-20, where she arrived on 21 October. Eight days later, she joined Convoy GUS-19—a 110-ship Alexandria–Hampton Roads convoy—and headed for home. She arrived in Baltimore on 16 November. Shifting to Hampton Roads in early December, Samuel Huntington prepared to depart on what would be her last sailing from the United States.

The Huntington—in Convoy UGS-27, a 115-ship convoy—sailed from Hampton Roads on 15 December for Oran, arriving there on 3 January 1944. She departed from Oran on 16 January and arrived at Naples five days later. One week later, Samuel Huntington sailed to Anzio where she anchored one-quarter mile (400 m) off the beach on 29 January with 7,181 long tons (7,296 t) of cargo, including ammunition, canned gasoline and TNT.