SS St. Olaf

SS St. Olaf was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after St. Olaf, the King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English: Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros, by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad.

History
United States
Name: St. Olaf
Namesake: St. Olaf
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: Union Sulphur Co., Inc.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 33
Awarded: 14 March 1941
Builder: Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Cost: $1,111,815[2]
Yard number: 2020
Way number: 7
Laid down: 6 January 1942
Launched: 12 April 1942
Completed: 20 May 1942
Fate: Sold to United States Department of War, 22 November 1943
United States
Name: St. Olaf
Owner: United States Department of War
Operator: US Army
Commissioned: July 1944
Recommissioned: 1946
Decommissioned:
  • November 1945
  • June 1947
Refit: Simpson Yard, Boston, July 1944
Identification:
  • USAHS (United States Army Hospital Ship) 1944—1945
  • USAT (United States Army Transport) 1946—1947
Fate: Returned to MARCOM, laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon, 24 June 1947
Status: Sold for scrapping, 1 April 1963
General characteristics [3]
Class and type:
Tonnage:
Displacement:
Length:
  • 441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
  • 416 feet (127 m) pp
  • 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam: 57 feet (17 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power:
  • 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
  • 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain)
  • 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Troops:
  • 591 patient capacity (Hospital ship)
  • 1,067 troops (Transport ship)
  • 147 dependents (Transport ship)
Complement:
Armament:
Notes: Armament removed when converted to Hospital Ship

Construction

St. Olaf was laid down on 6 January 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 33, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 12 April 1942.[1][2]

History

She was allocated to Union Sulphur Co.Inc., on 20 May 1942.[4]

On 22 November 1943, she was purchased by the United States Department of War to be converted to a hospital ship. From 23 November to late July 1944, she was converted at Simpson Yard, in Boston, by Bethlehem Steel Co. She was commissioned USAHS St. Olaf in July 1944.[5] She had been given the name Jasmine but this wasn't used.[6]

During the war, St. Olaf operated in the European-African-Middle East and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters. She was decommissioned in November 1945.[5]

She was refit at Standard Shipbuilding Co., San Pedro, California, to a transport ship, for returning military personnel and their dependents from Alaska, to Seattle, Washington. She was recommissioned USAT St. Olaf in 1946, and again decommissioned in June 1947.[5]

On 24 June 1947, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon. She was sold for scrapping on 1 April 1963, to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for $62,023.26. She was removed from the fleet on 12 April 1963.[4]

References
  1. Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards 2008.
  2. MARCOM.
  3. Davies 2004, p. 23.
  4. MARAD.
  5. Navsource.
  6. Charles 1947, p. 54.

Bibliography
  • "Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  • Maritime Administration. "St. Olaf". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  • Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  • "SS St. Olaf". Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  • "USAT St. Olaf". Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  • Charles, Roland W. (April 1947). Troopships of World War II. Washington, D.C.: Army Transportation Association. OCLC 1871625.


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