USAHS Acadia

USAHS Acadia was a US Army Hospital Ship during World War II. Built in 1932 by Newport News Shipbuilding as a civilian passenger/cargo ocean liner for the Eastern Steamship Lines, the vessel was in US coastal and Caribbean service prior to its acquisition by the US Maritime Administration in 1941.

Eastern Steamship Lines service
SS Acadia, along with her sister ship the SS St. John, entered US coastal service for the Eastern Steamship Lines in 1932, originally in New York-Yarmouth coastal service with some one way passages for New York-Yarmouth-Halifax or Saint John. From 1938-1940 the vessel route was shifted to New York-Bermuda or Nassau service. In 1939, the vessel was chartered to the United States Lines for one voyage.in order to return American  citizens from Europe.

On October 8, 1941 the vessel was chartered to the United States Maritime Commission and operated by other shipping lines as agents for the Commission. On April 29, 1942, the vessel was assigned to the Army Transport Service of the War Department. Its first voyage was the transportation of diplomats from South American countries. Upon completion of that voyage, the vessel was sent by the government to a shipyard in Boston to be converted for troop transport and hospital service.

US Army service
The vessel was initially fitted out as a troop transport and ambulance ship designated USAT Acadia. On October 16, 1942, she embarked on this dual service under the control of the Army Transport Service. Private Martin Lipschultz, member of the ship's 204th Medical Hospital Ship Company, described the arrangements:


 * "The Acadia was the first combined troop-transport-hospital ship to sail from the United States in World War II with a full hospital complement aboard. The 204th Medical Hospital Ship Company consisted of 18 Officers, 37 Nurses, and 94 Enlisted Men (it was activated April 1943). At the time of its first trip the German U-Boat menace was far from gone, and the Acadia with her precious cargo of troops, would have been a fine target for any enemy torpedo...


 * "The first voyage ended at Casablanca, French Morocco… For the next 4 months the Acadia would be crossing between North Africa and New York, carrying troops on the outbound trip and wounded patients on the return voyage..."

This dual usage of Acadia for outbound troops and inbound patients however left her vulnerable to enemy attack while hospital ships, plainly marked and operated under the terms of the Hague Convention, were protected. By mid-1943 more new-built ships were becoming available for transport service and Acadia became the first U.S. Army Hospital Ship of WW2, the USAHS Acadia.


 * "Then followed a short break with layover in New York harbor, while the ship exchanged her gray war paint coat for a white and green one. The antiaircraft and other guns, the Navy crew, and the troopship bunks all went off, and after being duly registered under the Treaties of The Hague Convention, the new United States Army Hospital Ship Acadia was ready to sail once more."

Acadia could transport 788 patients and carried three surgical teams. Her maiden voyage as a hospital ship was 5 June 1943. She served in the Italian Campaign in 1943 and in the North African Campaign.

Post-War service
On February 7, 1946, she was decommissioned as a hospital ship and converted for the carriage of dependents of service personnel and troops returning to the United States. This transport service continued until February 15, 1947.

Under the agreements in place at that time between US ship owners and the Maritime Administration, the US government was to restore a vessel to its pre-war condition or reimburse the owner for necessary repairs. Between February and July 1947, the Maritime Administration and Eastern Steamship could not reach agreement on the required repairs and the dispute eventually lead to Eastern Steamship filing a lawsuit under the Shipping Act of 1916 on May 20, 1948. The vessel remained out of service during the litigation and appeal process and was eventually scrapped in 1955.