USS Benevolence

USS Benevolence (AH-13) a United States Navy Hospital Ship, was built as SS Marine Lion in 1944 by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., in Chester, Pennsylvania, under a Maritime Commission contract. She displaced 11,141 tons fully loaded, was 520 feet (158.49 m) long, had a beam of 71.6 feet (21.82 m) and a draft 24 feet (7.31 m). Her maximum speed was 17.5 knots (32.41 kmph or 52.15 mph). She was sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Unter, transferred to the United States Navy on 31 July 1944, converted to a hospital ship by Todd-Erie Basin Shipyard, Inc., Brooklyn and was commissioned on 12 May 1945, with Captain C. C. Laws in command.

USS Benevolence (AH-13) Moored in Bikini Atoll lagoon, during Operation Crossroads, mid-July 1946. Several of the operation target ships are visible in the background.
History
United States
Ordered: 19 February 1942
Launched: 24 June 1944
Acquired: 19 June 1944
Commissioned: 5 May 1945
Decommissioned:
  • 1 July 1947
  • 30 June 1947
Fate: Sunk off San Francisco, California, in a collision 25 August 1950
General characteristics
Displacement: 11,141 tons empty (15,100 max)
Length: 520 ft (160 m)
Beam: 71.6 ft (21.8 m)
Draught: 24 ft (7.3 m)
Installed power: Two boilers
Propulsion: One geared steam turbine, single screw
Speed: 17.5 knots
Capacity: 802 patients
Complement: 95 officers, 606 enlisted men
Armament: None

World War II

With a bed capacity of 802 and a complement of 564, the Benevolence departed for the Pacific on 27 July 1945 to provide hospital services, consultation, preventive medicine, and casualty evacuation. She began her operational career receiving battle casualties from the 3rd Fleet during campaigns against Japan.

Post war

Upon VJ Day, Benevolence was with the Allied fleet in Tokyo Harbor during the Surrender of Japan. She anchored off Yokosuka, Japan, 29 August to begin processing liberated Allied prisoners of war where she screened 1520 prisoners of war. She remained in Japanese waters until 27 November 1945 and then returned wounded to the United States, arriving in San Francisco on 12 December 1945. She served as a casualty evacuation ship between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco from December until February 1946 and then underwent an overhaul until 1 April 1946.

She participated in Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in June 1946. She then served as a station hospital ship at Tsingtao, China from 14 October 1946 until 3 March 1947. She returned to San Francisco on 18 March 1947 and commenced inactivation and was placed out of commission in reserve 13 September 1947, attached to the San Francisco Reserve Group.

Sinking

On 25 August 1950 at 5:04 p.m. while returning from sea trials, prior to her assignment to the Military Sea Transportation Service in support of the Korean War effort, Benevolence collided with the freighter SS Mary Luckenbach in heavy fog and sank within 15 minutes off San Francisco. Five hundred and five crew members were rescued and 23 lost their lives.

The Defense Department announced on 31 July 1951 that the vessel was unsalvageable and would be dynamited as a menace to navigation.[1]

Awards

References
  1. United Press, "Wreckage of Ship Will Be Dynamited", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 1 August 1951, Volume LVII, Number 287, page 9.


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