World War II
Bridgeport was struck from the Navy List on 2 October 1941, and she was acquired by the Bridgeport Steamship Co. on 2 February 1942 for conversion to merchant service. She proved unsuitable for service as a cargo carrier, and was returned to the government a few months later, when the War Shipping Administration (WSA) took her over on 29 June 1942. The WSA transferred the ship to the War Department in November 1942.
Surveyed and found suitable for conversion to a hospital ship, Bridgeport underwent modernization at the Merrill-Stevens Drydock & Repair Co. in Jacksonville, Florida from September 1943 to August 1944, during which time she was renamed USAHS Larkspur. Her maiden voyage as an Army hospital ship took her from Charleston, South Carolina to the British Isles. After visits to the River Clyde and to Belfast, Northern Ireland, she underwent repairs at Newport, Wales, before sailing for home. The ship reached Charleston on 16 October 1944 with her first group of patients.
Larkspur conducted two more voyages to England before she sailed for the Mediterranean where she operated for several months, visiting Oran, Algeria; Marseille, France; and Naples, Italy, among other ports. She then returned to Atlantic waters before being selected for conversion to an Army transport in January 1946. Reclassified as a United States Army Transport (USAT) and resuming operation under her old name, USAT Bridgeport was reconfigured to carry war brides and other military dependents at the Todd Shipyard in Hoboken, New Jersey. She made several voyages between England and the United States in this capacity, operating well into 1947.
Bridgeport was delivered to the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) and entered the Reserve Fleet at Brunswick, Georgia on 16 April 1947. In November 1947, the ship was declared surplus by the WSA and stripped of all equipment and wire. Bridgeport was sold for scrapping on 13 February 1948 to the H. H. Buncher Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and withdrawn from USMC custody on 1 March 1948. She was dismantled at Mobile, Alabama later that same year.
Read more about this topic: USS Bridgeport (AD-10)
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