Hog Islanders - USS Argonne (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 25. Chapters: Hog Islander, SS Empire Barracuda, SS Liberty Glo, SS Mary Luckenbach (1919), SS Robin Moor, SS Ruth Kellogg, USS Antares (AG-10), USS Argonne (AS-10), USS Capella (AK-13), USS Chateau Thierry (AP-31), USS Procyon (AG-11), USS Samaritan (AH-10), USS Sirius (AK-15), USS Spica (AK-16), USS St. Mihiel (AP-32), USS Vega (AK-17), USS Wright (AV-1). Excerpt: USS Argonne (AP-4/AS-10/AG-31) was originally completed in 1920 under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract by the International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, Pa., and transferred to the Navy on 3 November 1921 by the War Department. Accepted preliminarily by the Navy on that date, she was commissioned as Argonne on 8 November 1921 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Lt. Comdr. Theodore H. Winters in command. On 16 November 1921, the ship was classified as a transport, AP-4. Departing Philadelphia on 24 November 1921 with military and civilian passengers, as well as a senatorial party, Argonne's maiden voyage and shakedown took the ship to Port-au-Prince, Haiti; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Ponce, Puerto Rico; and Santo Domingo City, Dominican Republic; before she put into Hampton Roads on 22 December. Subsequently returning to Philadelphia for post-shakedown availability, Argonne proceeded to the Panama Canal via Charleston, South Carolina, and after a stop at Mare Island continued across the Pacific to Cavite, in the Philippines, on her first voyage to that part of the globe. On 7 April 1922, CDR (later Fleet Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, along with his wife and three children, embarked on board Argonne at Pearl Harbor for passage to the east coast of the United States. Nimitz was on his way to Newport, R.I., to study at the Naval War College. The ship proceeded via Mare Island, where she underwent an overhaul period. Following that was a transit through the Panama Canal, Santo Domingo and Hampton Roads, bringing her voyage to a close on 21 June 1922. Over the next two years, Argonne operated with the Naval Transportation Service on the through service between New York and Manila. Along with the transport USS Chaumont, Argonne provided this important service to the fleet. During this time, she ranged from San Francisco to Guam and into the Yellow Sea, voyaging as far as Chefoo, China. Selected for conversion to a submarine tender and classified as AS-10 on 1 J