USS Hermitage (AP-54)

USS Hermitage (AP-54) was a troop transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. Prior to her Navy service, she was the Italian luxury liner SS Conte Biancamano.

Conte Biancamano was launched in 1925 by William Beardmore & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow, Scotland; sailed as a luxury liner for Lloyd Triestino So. Anon. di Nav. of Italy, was interned at Balboa, Canal Zone, when Italy declared war on the United States; converted to a transport by Cramp Shipbuilding of Philadelphia; and commissioned 14 August 1942, Captain Donald F. Patterson in command.

Account of Trip From Nov. 1942 to Mar. 1945
-1-

Sailed from New York, N.Y., 2 November 1942

Arrived Casablanca, French Marrocco, 18 November 1942

Left Casablanca, 29 November 1942

Arrived Norfolk, Virginia, 11 December 1942

-2-

Arrived New Port News, VA, 24 December 1942

Sailed 27 December 1942

Arrived Cristobal, C.Z., 2 January 1943

Sailed 6 January 1943

Arrived Noumea, New Caledonia, 27 January 1943

Sailed 28 January 1943

Arrived Brisbane, Australia, 31 January 1943

Sailed 2 February 1943

Arrived Sydney, Australia, 3 February 1943

Sailed 10 February 1943

Arrived Pago Pago, Samoa, 16 February 1943

Sailed 17 February 1943

Arrived Honolula, T.H. 23 February 1943

Sailed 24 February 1943

-3-

Sailed from San Francisco, 26 March 1943

Arrived Los Angeles, Calif., 27 March 1943

Sailed 30 March 1943

Arrived Wellington, N.Z., 17 April 1943

Sailed 19 April 1943

Arrived Melbourne, Australia, 24 April 1943

Sailed 26 April 1943

Arrived Bombay, India, 11 May 1943

Sailed 17 May 1943

Arrived Melbourne, Australia, 1 June 1943

Sailed 4 June 1943

Arrived Wellington, N.Z. 9 June 1943

Arrived Los Angeles, Calif., 25 June 1943

-4-

Sailed from Los Angeles, Calif., 27 July 1943

Arrived Wellington, N.Z., 12 August 1943

Sailed 14 August 1943

Arrived Melbourne, Australia, 19 August 1943

Sailed 21 August 1943

Arrived Fremantle, Australia, 26 August 1943

Sailed 30 August 1943

Arrived Bombay, India, 10 September 1943

Sailed 19 September 1943

Arrived Melbourne, Australia, 4 October 1943

Sailed 6 October 1943

Arrived Bora Bora, S.I., 14 October 1943

Sailed 15 October 1943

Arrived Los Angeles, Calif., 24 October 1943

-5-

Sailed San Pedro, Calif., 10 November 1943

Arrived Bora Bora, S.I., 19 November 1943

Sailed 26 November 1943

Arrived Fermantle, Australia, 11 December 1943

Sailed 14 December 1943

Arrived Bombay, India, 26 December 1943

Sailed 31 December 1943

Arrived Melbourne, Australia, 16 January 1944

Sailed 20 January 1944

Arrived Bora Bora, S.I. 29 January 1944

Sailed 29 January 1944

Arrived San Pedro, Calif., 8 February 1944

-6-

Sailed from San Pedro, Calif., 14 March 1944

Arrived San Francisco, Calif., 15 March 1944

Sailed 20 March 1944

Arrived Noumea, New Caledonia, 5 April 1944

Sailed 7 April 1944

Arrived Milne Bay, New Guinea, 11 April 1944

Sailed 13 April 1944

Arrived Beli Beli, Good Enough Island, 13 April 1944

Sailed 14 April 1944

Arrived Noumea, New Caledonia, 19 April 1944

Sailed 20 April 1944

Arrived San Francisco, Calif., 5 May 1944

-7-

Sailed from San Francisco, 12 May 1944

Arrived Balboa, C.Z., 21 May 1944

Sailed 22 May 1944

Arrived Colon, C.Z., 22 May 1944

Sailed 23 May 1944

Arrived New York, 28 May 1944

-8-

Sailed from New York, 16 June 1944

Arrived Liverpool, 27 June 1944

Sailed 28 June 1944

Arrived Belfast, Northern Ireland, 29 June 1944

Sailed 2 July 1944

Arrived New York, 12 July 1944

-9-

Sailed from New York, 11 August 1944

Arrived Liverpool, England, 22 August 1944

Sailed 16 August 1944

Arrived New York, 5 September 1944

-10-

Sailed from New York, 29 September 1944

Arrived Southampton, England, 9 October 1944

Sailed 13 October 1944

Arrived New York, 25 October 1944

-11-

Sailed from New York, 5 February 1945

Arrived Le Harve, France, 16 February 1945

Sailed 20 February 1945

Arrived Soughampton, England, 21 February 1945

Sailed 22 February 1945

Arrived New York, 5 March 1945

-12-

Sailed from New York, 15 March 1945

Arrived L Havre, France 27 March 1945

Sailed 30 March 1945

Arrived Soughampton, England, 31 March 1945

Sailed 31 March 1945

Arrived New York, 11 April 1945

-13-

Sailed from New York, 24 April 1945

Arrived Le Havre, France, 6 May 1945

Sailed 8 May 1945

Arrived Southampton, 9 May 1945

Anchored out 10,11,12 May 1945

Sailed 13 May 1945

Arrived Boston, Mass., 23 May 1945

-14-

Sailed from Boston, Mass., 30 May 1945

Arrived Le Havre, France, 7 June 1945

Sailed 9 June 1945

Arrived New York, 17 June 1945

-15-

Sailed from New York, 21 June 1945

Arrived in Le Havre, France, 29 June 1945

Sailed from Le Havre, France, 2 July 1945

Arrived New York, 10 July 1945

-16-

Sailed 14 July 1945 from New York

Arrived Le Harve, France, 29 July 1945

Sailed from Le Havre, 25 July 1945

Arrived New York, 2 August 1945

-17-

Sailed from New York, 16 October 1945

Arrived Straights of Gilbralter, 24 October 1945

Arrived Marseille, France, 26 October 1945

Sailed from Marseille, France, 27 October 1945

Sailed through Straights of Gibraltar, 29 October 1945

Arrived New York, 6 November 1945

-18-

Sailed from New York, 12 December 1945

Reached Panama, 17 December 1945

Sailed from Panama, 18 December 1945

Reached Pearl Harbor, 30 December 1945

Sailed from Pearl Harbor, 1 January 1946

Reach Nagaya, Japan, 11 January 1946

Left Nagaya, Japan 19 January 1946

Reached Seattle, Wash., 5 February 1946

-19-

Sailed from Seattle, 26 February 1946

Reached San Francisco, 28 February 1946

Left San Francisco, 2 March 1946

Reached Guam, 19 March 1946

Operation Torch
Embarking 5,600 army troops and sailors, on 2 November 1942 Hermitage departed New York with her skipper acting as convoy commodore. Six days later the North African invasion began, and Hermitage on 10–25 November debarked her passengers at Casablanca to participate in the momentous campaign. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia 11 December, Hermitage next headed for the Pacific with nearly 6,000 passengers embarked. After embarking and debarking passengers at Balboa, Noumea, Brisbane, Sydney, Pago Pago, and Honolulu, the former luxury liner put in at San Francisco 2 March 1943.

Pacific operations
Hermitage's next swing westward, begun 27 March took her to Wellington, New Zealand; Melbourne; and Bombay. At Bombay she embarked some 707 Polish refugees, including nearly a hundred children, for a voyage back to California which ended 25 June. In the next year Hermitage made three similar cruises through the South Pacific, with battle-bound marines, soldiers and sailors, civilians, and Chinese and Indian refugees among her diversified passengers. Hermitage reached New York 28 May from the South Pacific via Noumea, Goodenough Island, and the Panama Canal.

Operation Overlord
Departing New York 16 June 1944 with over 6,000 passengers, most of them bound for the invasion of Europe just begun at Normandy, Hermitage sailed to Liverpool and Belfast to debark the troops before returning to New York 12 July. From then until the end of the war she made 10 more such voyages, principally to Le Havre, to bring replacements to the European theater and transport wounded Allied soldiers and prisoners of war back to the States. V-E Day, 8 May 1945, found Hermitage part of the celebration in Le Havre harbor as Allied ships greeted the end of 6 years of war with a cacophony of bells, whistles and sirens screaming through air illuminated by hundreds of signal flares and rockets.

After hostilities
War's end did not mean the end of Hermitage's duty as she continued to cross the Atlantic, this time bringing veterans home through December. Departing New York 12 December, the well-traveled transport sailed to Nagoya, Japan to embark some 6,000 homeward bound veterans and return to Seattle 4 February 1946. Assigned to the San Francisco-Marianas run for Operation Magic Carpet, the return of thousands of Pacific troops, she made three further voyages before decommissioning at San Francisco 20 August 1946.

Summary of WWII service
While serving with the Navy, the former luxury liner had sailed approximately 230,000 miles and transported 129,695 passengers, including American, British, Australian, French, and Netherlands fighting men as well as Chinese, American, Polish, and British civilians and German and talian prisoners.

Postwar career
Hermitage was returned to the Italian Government in May 1947 and renamed SS Conte Biancamano, after which she served once more as a passenger liner until being retired in 1960. During her 1961 scrapping at the Italian port of La Spezia, her bridge superstructure was disassembled and shipped to the Museo della Scienza in Milano. This three-storey structure was reassembled inside a new pavilion and includes the pilot house, a few first-class cabins, and a circular ballroom.