USS Wakefield ( AP - 21 ) USS " Wakefield " ( AP - 21 ) was a troop transport that served with the US Navy during World War II . Prior to her war service , she operated as the luxury ocean liner . " Manhattan " - built for the United States Lines at Camden , New Jersey , by the New York Shipbuilding Company - was launched on 5 December 1931 ; and sponsored by Mrs . Edith Kermit Roosevelt , widow of former President Theodore Roosevelt . Commercial and pre - war service . After trials in and off the Delaware River , " Manhattan " departed New York City at midnight on 10 August 1932 for her maiden Atlantic crossing . Arriving at Hamburg 10 days later , she made the return voyage to New York in 5 days , 14 hours , and 28 minutes - a record for passenger liners . Proudly carrying the title of " the fastest cabin ship in the world " , the liner continued to ply the North Atlantic from New York to Hamburg , via Cobh , Ireland , Southampton , England ; and Le Havre , France , into the late 1930s . When Germany recalled her ships from the high seas during the Sudeten Crisis in September 1938 , " Manhattan " was en route to Hamburg but immediately came about and put into British and French ports instead , to bring back anxious American travelers who feared that they would be engulfed in a European war . After war broke out a year later , she made voyages to Genoa and Naples , Italy . Following the Allied collapse in the lowlands of western Europe in the spring of 1940 , she made a transatlantic crossing in July to repatriate American nationals from Portugal . With the European war endangering commercial shipping of neutral nations , " Manhattan " was then withdrawn from the once - lucrative transatlantic trade and placed in intercoastal service from New York to San Francisco , via the Panama Canal and Los Angeles . Converted to troop transport . In February 1941 , during her third voyage to California , " Manhattan " ran aground off West Palm Beach , Florida , but was pulled free by tugs after the ship was lightened . After the ship was repaired at New York , the Government chartered her on 6 June 1941 for a two - year period and renamed her " Wakefield " . Converted to a troop transport at Brooklyn , New York by the Robins Drydock Company , her costly furnishings and trappings of a luxury cruise liner were carefully removed and stored for future use . All of the ship ' s external surfaces were painted in Navy camouflage colors . On 15 June 1941 , " Wakefield " was commissioned , with Comdr . W . N . Derby , USCG in command . On 13 July 1941 , " Wakefield " departed New York to participate in joint Navy - Marine - Army - Coast Guard amphibious training exercises at New River Inlet , North Carolina , in late July and early August . In early November , the troopship proceeded to Halifax , Nova Scotia , to take on board British troops . " Wakefield " , with 6 , 000 men embarked , and five other transports got underway on 10 November for Cape Town , South Africa . Escorted by a strong screen - which , as far as Trinidad , included - the convoy arrived at Cape Town on 8 December , the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . World War II service . This drastic change in the strategic situation prompted the convoy to be rerouted to the Far East . On 29 January 1942 , " Wakefield " and " West Point " arrived at Singapore to disembark troops doomed later to capture by the Japanese upon the fall of the city in the following month . Bombed at Keppel Harbor . On 30 January 1942 , " Wakefield " commenced fueling at Keppel Harbour for the return voyage and awaited the arrival of some 400 British women and children who were being evacuated to Ceylon . At 1100 , lookouts spotted two formations of Japanese bomber s - 27 planes in each - approaching the dock area at Keppel Harbor . Unhampered by anti - aircraft fire or British fighter planes , the enemy bombers droned overhead and released a brief rain of bombs on the waterfront . One bomb hit off " Wakefield " ' s port quarter , and another blew up in the dock area from the transport ' s bow before a third struck the ship ' s " B " deck and penetrated through to " C " deck where it exploded in the sick bay spaces . A fire broke out , but it was extinguished in less than one - half hour . Using oxygen mask s , fire - fighting and damage control crews extricated five dead and nine wounded . Medical assistance soon came from " West Point " . Completing her fueling , " Wakefield " embarked her passengers and got underway soon thereafter , burying her dead at sea at 2200 and pushing on for Ceylon . After disembarking her passengers at Colombo , the ship found that port authorities would not cooperate in arranging for repair of her damage . " Wakefield " , therefore , promptly sailed for Bombay , India , where she was able to effect temporary repairs and embark 336 American evacuees . Steaming home via Cape Town , the transport reached New York on 23 March and then proceeded to Philadelphia for permanent repairs . Named a " lone wolf " transport . Underway on 11 May 1942 for Hampton Roads , " Wakefield " arrived at Norfolk , Virginia two days later to load cargo in preparation for Naval Transportation Service Operating Plan " Lone Wolf " . This provided for " Wakefield " to travel , for the most part , unescorted - relying on her superior speed to outrun or outmaneuver enemy submarine s . On 19 May 1942 , she embarked 4 , 725 marines and 309 Navy and Army passengers for transportation to the South Pacific and moved to Hampton Roads to form up with a convoy bound for the Panama Canal Zone . Arriving at Cristóbal on 25 May 1942 , " Wakefield " was released from the convoy to proceed west . After escorted her out of the Canal Zone , " Wakefield " proceeded independently to New Zealand and arrived at Wellington on 14 June . Departing one week later , the transport steamed via the Panama Canal and reached New York on 11 July 1942 . On 6 August 1942 , " Wakefield " departed New York with Convoy AT - 18 - the largest troop convoy yet assembled . A dozen troop transports made up the bulk of the convoy , escorted by 12 warships - cruiser s and destroyer s . After proceeding via Halifax to Great Britain , " Wakefield " received orders routing her and three other transports to the River Clyde , where they arrived without incident . On 27 August 1942 , " Wakefield " departed the Clyde estuary as part of Convoy TA - 18 , bound for New York . Onboard fire . While the transport was en route to her destination , on the evening of 3 September 1942 , fire broke out deep within the bowels of the ship and spread rapidly . In the port column of the formation , " Wakefield " swung to port to run before the wind while fire - fighting began immediately . Ready - use ammunition was thrown overboard to prevent detonation , code room publications were secured , and sick bay and brig inmates were released . and closed to windward to take off passengers , a badly - burned officer , and members of the crew not needed to man pumps and hoses . Other survivors were disembarked by boat and raft , to be picked up forthwith by the screening ships . At 2100 , " Brooklyn " again came alongside to remove the remainder of the crew , while a special salvage detail boarded the ship . On 5 September 1942 , towing operations commenced led by the Canadian salvage vessel Foundation Franklin and the big transport was put aground at McNab ' s Cove , near Halifax , at 1740 on the 8th . When fire - fighting details arrived alongside to board and commence the mammoth operation , fires still burned in three holds and in the crew ' s quarters on two deck levels . Four days later , the last flames had been extinguished , and the ship was re - floated on the 14th . While " Wakefield " was undergoing partial repairs in Halifax harbor , a torrential rainstorm threatened to fill the damaged ship with water and capsize her at her berth . Torrents of rain , at times in cloudburst proportions , poured into the ship and caused her to list heavily . Salvage crews , meanwhile , cut holes in the ship ' s sides above the waterline , draining away the water to permit the ship to regain an even keel . For the next 10 days , the salvagers engaged in extensive initial repair work - cleaning up the ship , pumping out debris , patching up holes , and preparing the vessel for her voyage to the Boston Navy Yard for complete rebuilding . Total rebuild . Temporarily decommissioned , the charred liner proceeded for Boston with a four - tug tow , and was declared a " constructive total loss . " The Government purchased the hulk from the United States Lines and stripped the vessel to the waterline . The repairs and alterations began in the fall of 1942 , and lasted through 1943 . On 10 February 1944 , " Wakefield " was recommissioned at Boston , with Capt . R . L . Raney , USCG , in command . Various transport roles . She departed Boston on 13 April 1944 , beginning the first of 23 round trips in the Atlantic theater , and three in the Pacific . Between 13 April 1944 and 1 February 1946 , " Wakefield " transported 110 , 563 troops to Europe and brought some 106 , 674 men back to America - a total of 217 , 237 passengers . In many cases , " Wakefield " operated as a " lone wolf " , except for air coverage a few miles out of a port . Her primary port of call in the European theater was Liverpool - visited so often in fact that the transport ' s crew nicknamed her " The Boston and Liverpool Ferry . " The average round - trip voyage took 18 days . After D - Day , 6 June 1944 , " Wakefield " began the first of her trips as a casualty - evacuation ship , bringing home wounded GI ' s . On occasion , she also brought back German prisoners of war for internment in the United States . Sometimes she even carried both evacuees and prisoners on the same voyage . After 13 trips to Liverpool , " Wakefield " was sent to the Mediterranean theater to carry men and equipment to Italy . She made three visits to Naples and a run each to Marseille , Oran , Taranto , Le Havre , and Cherbourg - Octeville . Returning from her 22nd voyage to Europe , the transport departed Boston on 4 December 1945 for Taku , China , and a Magic Carpet mission - returning to San Diego , California , on 1 February 1946 . Two round trips to Guam , in February through April 1946 , rounded out the ship ' s active service as a Navy transport . Decommission . Mooring at New York on 27 May 1946 , " Wakefield " was decommissioned on 16 June 1946 - five years to the day since she first entered service . There she was laid up in reserve , out of commission , with the Maritime Administration ' s Hudson River Reserve Fleet at Jones Point , New York . She was struck from the Navy Register in 1959 . She was sold for scrap to Union Minerals & Alloys Corporation for $ 263 , 000 in 1965 . Awards . " Wakefield " earned one battle star for her World War II service .