Section 3062, Title 10, U.S. Code, states that the Army includes "land combat and service forces and such aviation and water transport as may be organic therein."
Army water transport capabilities include operation of fixed port facilities, construction and emplacement of temporary ports, operation of a variety of logistics watercraft (including transport vessels, lighterage, harbor and ocean-capable tug boats), plus port clearance capabilities.
During World War II, the U.S. Army operated about 127,800 watercraft of various types.) Those included large troop and cargo transport ships that were Army-owned hulls, vessels allocated by the War Shipping Administration, bareboat charters, and time charters. In addition to the transports, the Army fleet included specialized types. Those included vessels not related to transport such as mine warfare vessels, waterway or port maintenance ships, and other service craft.
For example:
Troop and cargo ships over 1,000 gross tons that often carried the U.S. Army Transport ship prefix "USAT" with their name if they were Army owned or bareboat chartered: 1,557 ships Other ships over 1,000 gross tons, including hospital ships (prefix "USAHS"), cable ships, aircraft repair ships, port repair ships and others without any title other than "U.S. Army" and a number or name: 108 ships Vessels under 1,000 gross tons of numerous types that include the 511 FS ("Freight and Supply") small nonstandard coastal freighters of numerous designs, 361 minecraft with the large Mine Planters carrying U.S. Army Mine Planter (prefix "USAMP") with a number above a name, 4,343 tugs of all types and a varied array of 4,697 launches and small service craft just designated U.S. Army with a number or name: 12,379 Barges and non-propelled watercraft that included 16,787 pontoons: 25,383 Amphibious assault craft: 88,366
Limiting the number to only the named and numbered vessels, discounting the various simple barges and amphibious assault craft, the remaining number is 14,044 vessels.
Overview This fleet and the Army's Ports of Embarkation operated throughout the war's massive logistics effort in support of worldwide operations. After the war the Army's fleet began to resume its peacetime role and even regain the old colors of gray hulls, white deck houses and buff trimming, masts and booms with the red, white and blue stack rings. An example may be seen in the photographs of USAT Fred C. Ainsworth.
Some confusion may exist in the precise definition of "Army ship" as many ships saw Army service during the Second World War that were never or only briefly (a brief Army time or voyage charter) part of the Army's fleet. Army owned vessels of the core fleet are quite clear, even though some of those switched between Army and Navy during the war. Close to those were the ships that were bareboat chartered by the Army, meaning that only the hull itself was chartered and Army was responsible for crewing and all other operational aspects. Others were long term allocations to Army by the War Shipping Administration so that they operated as Army transports and cargo vessels for much of the war. The more confusing ships are those that were short-term or time or voyage chartered ships.
In the South West Pacific Area during the emergency of the Japanese advance throughout Southeast Asia the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines even the chartering arrangements were often vague as ships arriving in Australia were retained by United States Forces in Australia (USFIA) for operations in Australia. Some of these ships, acquired and operating under United States Army Services of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area (USASOS SWPA), achieved some notability in military history in daring voyages to resupply the forces cut off in the Philippines from either Australia or the already collapsing Dutch East Indies. That situation is captured by Masterson on page 324:
On 28 April General MacArthur reported that his fleet consisted of twenty-eight vessels—the twenty-one KPM vessels (the majority of which had not been delivered); the Dona Nati. The , the Coast Farmer, and the , chartered by WSA; and the Anhui, the Yochow and the Hanyang, believed to be chartered by the British Ministry of War Transport (BMWT) for the U.S. Army, though no official information concerning their status had been received.
Three of those vessels, Coast Farmer, Dona Nati and Anhui, out of a number sent, managed to run the Japanese blockade of the Philippines and deliver supplies.
After the war came the reorganization that led to the U.S. Department of Defense rather than a separate United States Department of War and Department of the Navy with the decision on maritime logistics going in favor of it being administered by the Navy. As a result, the Army lost almost all of its big vessels. Many of the Army vessels were transferred to Navy with the transport types becoming components of the new Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS, now MSC) under the Navy. Some of the Army's specialized vessels became Navy commissioned ships (USS) or non-commissioned utility vessels. Digital photographs of a few of these vessels in Army service are provided at the Naval History and Heritage Command. Others were sold commercially or simply scrapped.
The Army heritage of civilian crewed transports and cargo ships continued in the operating model for MSTS and its "in service" non-commissioned ships designated as U.S. Naval Ship (prefix "USNS"). Some Army vessels, still crewed by Army civilians just transferred, were suddenly sailing before fully taking on the new service's administrative functions and colors.
Currently active ship classes Runnymede-class large landing craft (35 built) MGen. Nathanael Greene-class large coastal tugs (6 built) General Frank S. Besson-class logistics support vessels (8 built) LCM-8 Landing Craft Mechanized - (40 built)
The Army has a fleet of approximately 132 watercraft, operated by units of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. army.mil (The Army's watercraft program is managed by the United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command.) These craft are identified by the following hull code and type;
DUKW – Six-wheel-drive amphibious truck JMLS – Joint Modular Lighter System LACV-30 – Lighter ACV 30-ton LAMP-H – Lighter, Amphibian - Heavy Lift LARC – Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo (in 5, 15 and 60-ton versions) TLV – Theater Logistics Vessel RIB – Rapidly Installed Breakwater System BC – Barge, dry-cargo, nonpropelled BCDK – Conversion kit, barge deck enclosure BCL – Barge, dry-cargo, nonpropelled, large BD – Crane, floating BDL – Lighter, beach discharge BG – Barge, liquid cargo, nonpropelled BK – Barge, dry cargo, nonpropelled BPL – Barge, pier, nonpropelled BR – Barge, refrigerated, nonpropelled CF – Ferry, Causeway FB – Ferryboat FD – Dry dock, floating FMS – Repair shop, floating, nonpropelled FS – Freight and supply vessel, large J – Boat, utility LARC – Lighter, amphibious LCM – Landing craft, mechanized LCU – Landing craft, utility LSV – Logistics support vessel LT – Tug, large, seagoing MWT – Modular Warping, Tug ST – Tug, small, harbor T – Boat, passenger and cargo TCDF – Temporary crane discharge facility Y – Vessel, liquid cargo
The US Army Corps of Engineers has a total of 11 dredge vessels, divided into hopper and non-hopper dredges. In total the Corps has approximately 2,300 floating plant assets, including barges, tow boats, floating cranes, survey boats, patrol boats and dredges.
Aircraft Repair Ship
Aircraft Repair Units (Floating)
A classified program named Operation Ivory Soap was conceived by the Air Technical Service Command to service aircraft close to the front in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. Six Liberty ships were converted at Point Clear, Alabama, near Brookley Field, outside Mobile, Alabama. Conversion began in the spring of 1944. The ships were fitted with machine tools, cranes, and all the equipment necessary for a machine shop, including welding, radiator, tank, wood, patterns, blue print, electrical, fabric and dope, paint, air-conditioned instrument and camera shops, radio, battery, propeller, tires and fuel cells, armament and turrets, plating, radar, carburetor, and turbo-super-charger. They were supplied with a large inventory of steel, sheet metal, lumber, aluminum, and other materials to manufacture needed parts. Each ship was also provided with two motor launches and two DUKWs or "ducks", amphibious trucks for carrying parts too heavy for the helicopters. Two personnel were trained as divers. Each was equipped with a steel deck to support helicopter operations. Each ship was assigned a complement of 344 soldiers who were trained for marine operations. Nicknamed sailjers, They wore sailor dungarees on the ship, and Army uniforms on land.
The ships were designated as Aircraft Repair Units, Floating (ARUs) and operated by the Army Transport Service, all of whose officers and men were merchant mariners. The ships provided mobile depot support for B-29 Superfortress and P-51 Mustangs based on Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa beginning in December 1944. They were also fitted with landing platforms to accommodate four R-4 helicopters, creating the first seagoing helicopter-equipped ships, and provided medical evacuation of combat casualties in both the Philippines and Okinawa.
1st ARU(F) Major General Robert Olds (ex-SS Daniel E. Garrett) 2d ARU(F) Major General Herbert A. Dargue (ex-SS Rebecca Lukens) 3rd ARU(F) Major General Walter R. Weaver (ex-SS Thomas LeValley)
4th ARU(F) Brigadier General Asa N. Duncan (ex-SS Richard O'Brien) 5th ARU(F) Brigadier General Clinton W. Russell (ex-SS Robert W. Bingham 6th ARU(F) Brigadier General Alfred J. Lyon (ex-SS SS Nathaniel Scudder)
Auxiliary Aircraft Repair Ship Design 427: Vessel, Supply, Aircraft Repair, Diesel, Steel, 180-foot 573 ton steel vessels built by Higgins;
FS-204 Col. Clifford P. Bradley FS-205 Col. Richard E. Cobb FS-206 Col. John D. Corkille (#1) and (#2) FS-207 Col. Demas T. Craw FS-208 Col. Everett S. Davis FS-209 Col. Sam L. Ellis FS-210 Col. Oliver S. Ferson FS-211 Col. Percival E. Gabel FS-212 Col. Donald M. Keiser FS-213 Col. Douglas M. Kilpatrick FS-214 Col. Raymond T. Lester FS-215 Col. Donald R. Lyon FS-216 Col. William J. McKiernan FS-217 Col. Armand Peterson (went to the Navy as ) FS-218 Col. Charles T. Phillips FS-219 Col. Edgar R. Todd FS-220 Col. Harold B. Wright FS-221 Col. Francis T. Ziegler
Seacraft Repair Ship Six ships, allocated by the War Shipping Administration, were converted to repair and spare parts ships. Five, from to in length, were built on the Great Lakes from 1901 to 1913. The sixth, James B. Houston (1900) at was the Army owned Kvichak which had grounded off Canada, slipped into of water and was then salvaged in 1941. All were U.S. Coast Guard-crewed with the Army in administrative and operational control as well as providing the repair detachments from the Army Marine Ship Repair Company (AMSR CO.). All served in the Southwest Pacific Area. Houston, which had first served in the Aleutians, was declared surplus while at Mariveles, Philippines and turned over to the Foreign Liquidation Commission in February 1946, reverted to U. S. Army Forces, Western Pacific (AFWESPAC) in April 1946, but was not used as a repair ship after being declared surplus.
Army Marine Ship Repair Company (T/O & E 55-47): This is a mobile maintenance and repair unit capable of traveling from installation to installation in a theater to perform third and minor fourth echelon maintenance and repairs to small boats, harbor craft, floating equipment, and in some cases repairs to larger vessels. The company is equipped with an especially converted ship or barge, fully equipped with machine, electric, engine, wood-working, rigging and paint shops.