World War II
In June 1940, the United States Maritime Commission opened bidding for the reconditioning of ten laid up cargo ships, which included West Corum. According to the Los Angeles Times, the, a successor to the, was forced to act because of a "critical shortage" of U.S. Navy auxiliary ships. Though there is no specific information available regarding West Corum, the cost of reconditioning West Honaker, another of the laid up West boats, was $77,777. In November, West Corum was one of different group of ten ships taken up by the United States Army for defense service.
The ship's movements under Army control are largely unknown, but in January 1941, The New York Times reported that USAT West Corum had arrived in New York from Puerto Rico. Between February and March 1941, the ship was renamed USAT Will H. Point (though some sources indicate William H. Point instead) in honor of a former officer in the Quartermaster Corps.
Some other destinations for Will H. Point during her Army service are known. On 15 June 1941, the ship became the first ship to dock at the newly completed port facilities at Anchorage, Alaska. From September 1943 to January 1944, Will H. Point sailed between ports in Australia and New Guinea. Sailing mostly in convoys, Will H. Point visited Gladstone, Brisbane, Caloundra, Townsville, and Milne Bay.
After the war's end, Will H. Point is listed in the Chicago Daily Tribune as returning 11 U.S. Army personnel from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco in July 1946. The following January, Will H. Point entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Astoria, Oregon, and was withdrawn for scrapping in August.
Read more about this topic: USS West Corum (ID-3982)
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