World War II
Simultaneously placed in commission "in ordinary" as William P. Biddle (AP-15), at Oakland, California, with Capt. Campbell D. Edgar in command, the ship was taken in hand for extensive conversion at the Moore Dry Dock Company, of Oakland. Over the ensuing months, the erstwhile passenger-cargo vessel was transformed to a transport, with the dockyard workers sometimes putting in 24-hour shifts. William P. Biddle - now sporting the peacetime Navy gray - was ultimately placed in full commission on 3 February 1941. That day, Capt. Frank A. Braisted broke his broad command pennant in the ship as Commander, Troop Transports, Base Force.
Shifted to the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo California, soon thereafter, William P. Biddle underwent further alterations there through mid-February. She ran her post repair trials in San Francisco Bay on the 21st and, two days later, shifted to San Diego, California, where she embarked marines of the 7th Defense Battalion, USMC. The transport then departed San Diego on 27 February, bound for the Hawaiian Islands.
Read more about this topic: USS William P. Biddle (APA-8)
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