USS William P. Biddle (APA-8) was a in service with the United States Navy from 1941 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1957.
History The ship was one of eight 11,800 dwt hulls ordered by the British Shipping Controller under construction at Union Iron Works Alameda yard and requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board when the United States entered World War I. Ordered as War Surf the ship was renamed Eclipse, U.S. official number 217456, and completed in February 1919. Five of the ships, including Eclipse, were converted to electric drive before commercial operation for the USSB. The 3,000 horsepower electric motor was directly connected to the propeller shaft. Eclipse was the first of the five, the others being Archer, Independence, Invincible (See Empire Porpoise) and Victorious, entering service as the United States' first electric drive cargo ship making an initial successful voyage from New York in November 1920 to the Dutch East Indies.
Commercial service Eclipse was owned by the Shipping Board from 1919 and operated under the Board from 1920 until the ship was acquired by the Baltimore Mail Steamship Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1931. Reconstructed at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, to the lines drawn up by the noted naval architect firm of Gibbs & Cox, Eclipse was lengthened by 46'6"; accommodations were installed for 81 tourist-class passengers; and the ship was re-engined to give her a substantial boost in power and speed.
Renamed City of Hamburg, the steamship performed passenger, fast freight, and mail service between the terminal ports of Baltimore, Hampton Roads, Le Havre and Hamburg with the Baltimore Mail Steamship Company from 1938 to 1939, when the United States government refused further subsidies for the firm's international operations.
City of Hamburg was acquired by the Panama-Pacific Line and renamed City of San Francisco in 1939, and she operated between New York and San Francisco until acquired by the Navy on 13 November 1940.
U.S. Navy service Simultaneously placed in commission "in ordinary" as William P. Biddle (AP-15), at Oakland, California 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 under the command of Captain Campbell Dallas Edgar on 3 February 1941.
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.
After a two-day layover at Pearl Harbor, William P. Biddle got underway at 1040 on 9 March. An hour later, she joined the light cruiser (with Commander, Cruiser Division 3 embarked) – her escort for the voyage to Samoa. On the 15th, the two ships arrived at Pago Pago, where William P. Biddle disembarked 24 officers and 405 enlisted men of the composite infantry-artillery unit that was the first unit of the Fleet Marine Force to serve in the Southern Hemisphere during World War II. After fueling Concord at Pago Pago, William P. Biddle and her escort sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on the 20th.
The transport then spent three days at Pearl Harbor before pushing on for the west coast arriving at San Diego on 4 April. She subsequently took part in maneuvers off San Clemente Island, conducting landing exercises at Pyramid Cove, into May. Meanwhile, that spring, plans to reinforce the Fleet Marine Forces of the Atlantic Fleet for the possible occupation of Martinique were proceeding apace. On 24 May, General Thomas Holcomb, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, drew upon the manpower resources of the 2nd Marine Division, selecting the 6th Marine Regiment (Col. Leo D. Hermle, USMC, in command) for "temporary shore duty beyond the seas."
Brought up to strength by drafts from the 2d and 8th Regiments, and joined by reinforcing tank, artillery, and service elements, the 6th Marine Regiment embarked in William P. Biddle, as well as transports and , plus high speed transports , , , and . William P. Biddle took on board 27 officers and 497 enlisted men from the 6th and 2nd Defense Battalions, USMC, while moored at the Long Pier, Destroyer Base, San Diego.
At 1826 on Memorial Day 1941, the transport, flying Commodore Braisted's pennant as ComTransBaseFor, departed San Diego, bound for that duty "beyond the seas." En route, William P. Biddle fueled Little and arrived at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal at 2048 on 9 June. Less than an hour later, Stringham transferred five officers and 51 enlisted marines from "K" Company to the transport before she began the transit of the canal. William P. Biddle passed through the last set of locks – Pedro Miguel – shortly before midnight on the 9th and moored at Cristóbal at 0512 on the 10th to take on fuel.
Slipping out to sea at 2211 from Limon Bay, Cristobal, in company with sister ships Fuller and Heywood and escorted by the venerable "flush-deckers", destroyers and , William P. Biddle sailed for Charleston, South Carolina, the assembly point for an expeditionary force. While the ships were en route, however, changes in the ultimate disposition of the troops had occurred. Late that spring, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had come to President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a request for assistance. Britain, feeling that her back was to the wall, wanted the United States to send troops to Iceland. In response to this request, the President turned to the Navy and discovered that a reinforced infantry regiment, the 6th Marines earmarked for possible expeditionary duty, was already en route from the west coast – a tailor-made Iceland occupation force.
The most probable mission for these marines had been either the seizure of Martinique or the occupation of the Azores. However, intelligence indicated that Germany was about to invade Russia. As a result, President Roosevelt suspended the planning for the Azores operation and instead decided to assume the guardianship over Iceland. Meanwhile, William P. Biddle and her consorts continued on their voyage from San Diego. The transports cleared the canal and turned north, then passed the western end of Cuba, and arrived at Charleston on 15 June. The next day, the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional) came into existence, with Brigadier General John Marston in command.
Six days later, with the last of the equipment loaded, the convoy sailed for Newfoundland. William P. Biddle – as part of the convoy now escorted by a strong contingent of escorts ranging from battleships to destroyers – anchored in Placentia Bay, Argentia, on 28 June. On 1 July, the government of Iceland issued an invitation for the United States to land troops; and, by dawn on the 2nd, the convoy was en route to conduct the landing on the strategic island in the North Atlantic.
William P. Biddle arrived at Reykjavík on 7 July and commenced disembarking the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Hitler had ordered his U-boats to spare American shipping; but the Americans – unaware of this German policy – hurried to unload the four transports and two accompanying cargo ships. Since there was little local labor, the marines furnished the working parties. Round-the-clock effort was immeasurably aided by the nearly 24 hours of daylight prevalent at that time of year.
The landing was completed by 11 July, and William P. Biddle and her consorts soon sailed for home leaving the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional) to establish the base that would be their home on the bleak, treeless island for the next eight months.
William P. Biddle arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 22 July for post-voyage repairs and upkeep. She then made one more voyage to Iceland, departing Norfolk on 14 August and arriving at Staten Island, New York, the next day. There, she embarked Army troops at the beginning of September and got underway on 5 September, arriving at Reykjavík on the 16th.
World War II Departing Iceland on the 25th, William P. Biddle arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 6 October. After repairs there, the transport headed south and arrived at Hampton Roads on 23 October. She operated in Lynnhaven Roads and Hampton Roads, training in amphibious warfare tactics and techniques until 17 January 1942. During that time, tensions in the Pacific had reached their peak when a Japanese carrier force attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and pushed the United States over the brink of a rapidly eroding neutrality into war.
The transport departed Norfolk on 17 January 1942, arrived at the Army docks at New York the next day, and remained in the New York area until shifting back to Norfolk at the end of the month. For the rest of that winter, the ship carried troops – taking marines to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Army troops to Guantanamo Bay – before entering the Norfolk Navy Yard on 1 March for reconversion. William P. Biddle received an augmented antiaircraft battery and new davits to accommodate more up-to-date landing craft before she departed the yard on 15 April.
Operation Torch She trained in the Chesapeake Bay area from 16 April to 13 October before getting underway for North Africa on 24 October as part of Operation Torch, the first major American combat landing in the European-African-Middle Eastern Area. The transport sailed as part of Task Group (TG) 34.9, the "Center Attack Group" – commanded by Capt. Robert Emmett – which consisted of a dozen troop transports and three cargo ships. Embarked in the transports were the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, the 1st Battalion of the 67th Armored Regiment, and assorted special units. There were 19,810 men riding in those ships, along with 79 light M3 Stuart tanks.
The task assigned TG 34.9 was a pivotal one, since it was to be launched against the key port of Fedhala, to the northeast of the seaport of Casablanca, on the coast of French Morocco. William P. Biddle arrived off the Casablanca-Fedhala sector at 0011 on 8 November, heaving-to in the transport area and hoisting out her boats and tank lighters. At 0445, the first troops began storming ashore. By 1513, men in William P. Biddle noted that the American flag had been raised over the beachhead.
The transport continued her unloading evolutions into the following day, a slow process due to lack of boats and lighters, many of which had become stranded on the beaches by the low tide. While the ship herself saw little action, four of her landing boats did. Carrying 113 officers and men of a Headquarters Military Police (MP) company, those four craft set out for Beach "Yellow" at about 0400 on the 11th. Two blundered into French waters off Casablanca where a French patrol craft raked the boats with machine gunfire, killing the MP company commander in the fusillade. Both American craft sank, and the survivors were taken prisoner. The other two boats returned to the ship in the forenoon and reported the fate of their less fortunate sisters. The lost landing craft had carried three officers and 84 men.
When planes of unknown nationality appeared later that day, the transport group – taking no chances – fired at them and William P. Biddle contributed her share of fire. Unloading operations proceeded over the ensuing days, until French resistance ceased. On the 11th, German U-boat torpedoes struck the transport , the oiler , and the destroyer . Joseph Hewes sank at 2050, and boats from William P. Biddle rescued one officer and 12 men, brought them aboard the transport, and berthed and clothed them.