Notes
Note N25
Index
USS U. S. Grant (AP-29) was a transport ship that saw service with the United States Navy in World War II. Originally a German ocean liner named Konig Wilhelm II, she was seized by the United States during the First World War and renamed USS Madawaska (ID-3011) in 1917 before being renamed USS U. S. Grant (AP-29) in 1922.
Between the wars
For almost two decades, U. S. Grant soldiered on in the Army Transport Service, maintaining a regular schedule of voyages carrying troops, passengers, and supplies along a route which included calls at San Francisco, California; Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii; Guam; Manila, Philippine Islands; Chinwangtao and Shanghai, China; the Panama Canal Zone, and New York. For many of these years of service in the Pacific, U. S. Grant served as the sole source of refrigerated stores from the United States. Her periodic arrivals at Apra Harbor invariably produced a temporary improvement in the diet of Americans living in Guam.
Run aground at Guam
On one voyage to Guam, the transport was nearly lost. On the late afternoon of 19 May 1939, U. S. Grant ran aground on the dangerous inner reef in the as-yet unfinished harbor. Fortunately, the accident did not occur during typhoon season. The combined efforts of minesweeper USS Penguin (AM-33) and oil depot ship Robert L. Barnes (AG-27) failed to budge the ship off the coral, leading the Acting Governor of Guam, Comdr. George W. Johnson, to hit upon a plan of action in collaboration (by radio) with Capt. Richmond K. Turner, in heavy cruiser Astoria (CA-34), which was then en route to the island.
For 21 hours, members of the U.S. Naval Insular Force and local stevedores unloaded 300 tons of cargo from the grounded U. S. Grant, while much of her fuel was transferred to Robert L. Barnes and Admiral Halstead. Astoria - en route for the United States after carrying Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito's ashes back to his homeland - arrived at 0630 on 21 May. She took up her assigned position, as did Penguin, Robert L. Barnes and Admiral Halstead; at 0809 U. S. Grant lurched free of the coral reef, to the accompaniment of cheers from the transport's crew. The island's newspaper, The Guam Recorder, subsequently reported in its June 1939 edition: "The short time in which the difficult operation was carried out was due to the efficient cooperation of all...involved, the Army, Navy, and Merchant Marine."
All cargo was soon reloaded, and U. S. Grant resumed her voyage. She continued under the aegis of the Army Transportation Service through 1940. Then as war clouds gathered in the Pacific and Atlantic, U. S. Grant was subsequently reacquired by the Navy. Armed with seven 3-inch guns (she had been unarmed while serving as an Army transport), the vessel was refitted at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, and was commissioned on 16 June 1941, Capt. Herbert R. Hein in command. Continuing her service as a transport, the ship received the classification of AP-29.
Notes
Note N26
Index
Over 1,000 troops of the 24th Infantry Division were transported from Mindanao, Philippines, to Okajama, Japan on the Mifflin.
Notes
Note N27
Index
Sailing to Okinawa 30 October, she engaged in "Magic Carpet" duty from November to March 1946, returning additional thousands of veterans to San Francisco.
Notes
Note N28
Index
Walked the 5 miles to school and back with his brothers.
First car was obtained as a result of the suicide of a travelling salesman during the Depression. Shared the car with brother Lester.
Enlisted in the Merchant Marines in 1930.
Enlisted in the US Navy in 1933. Honorable discharge in 1966.
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US SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX:
Mark TILLEY
Birth Date: 7 Feb 1913
Death Date: 17 Jul 2004
Social Security Number: 546-14-0389
State or Territory Where No. Was Issued: California
Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 96554
Localities: Apo, N/A, Pacific (Military)
United States Census, 1920 for Mark Tilley
name: Mark Tilley
residence: , Cassia, Idaho
estimated birth year: 1913
age: 7
birthplace: Utah
relationship to head of household: Son
gender: Male
race: White
marital status: Single
father's birthplace: Utah
mother's birthplace: Utah
film number: 1820290
digital folder number: 4300161
image number: 00885
sheet number: 20
Household Gender Age
James A Tilley M 37y
Rachael Tilley F 34y
James R Tilley M 16y
Kendall Tilley M 13y
Lester Tilley M 9y
Mark Tilley M 7y
Verne Tilley M 2y
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USS Gold Star AG-12 [Extract from http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g6/gold_star.htm - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]
An Asia specialist
During the 1920s and 1930s Gold Star became a familiar sight in the far-flung ports of Asia. Though assigned as flagship at Guam she made frequent voyages to Japan, China, and the Philippines with cargo and passengers. Prior to World War II, much of her crew was made up of Chamorros, natives of Guam.[1]
In the Philippines when World War II started
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, Gold Star was coaling at Malangas, Philippine Islands.[3] She sailed for Manila 8 December, but was ordered by Commander, Asiatic Fleet, to proceed to Balikpapan, Borneo.[4] She arrived 14 December as the Japanese advanced quickly southward; and after issuing urgently needed provisions to units of the Asiatic Fleet there, steamed by way of Macassar, Celebes, to Darwin, Australia.[5] Following her arrival at Darwin 28 December, Gold Star served as a coastal cargo carrier, steaming between such Australian ports as Brisbane, Sydney, and Fremantle. She thus contributed importantly to strengthening Australia and to checking the Japanese advance in New Guinea. After 15 August 1943 the veteran ship continued her coastal operations in Australia, but also began a series of cargo voyages to New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. Gold Star brought many loads of vital supplies to Milne Bay as the Allies began the push toward the Philippines.
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