USS Henry R . Mallory ( ID - 1280 ) USS " Henry R . Mallory " ( ID - 1280 ) was a transport for the United States Navy during World War I . She was also sometimes referred to as USS " H . R . Mallory or as USS " Mallory . Before her Navy service she was USAT " Henry R . Mallory as a United States Army transport ship . From her 1916 launch , and after her World War I military service , she was known as SS " Henry R . Mallory for the Mallory Lines . Pressed into service as a troopship in World War II by the War Shipping Administration , she was torpedoed by German submarine " U - 402 " in the North Atlantic ocean and sank with the loss of 272 men — over half of those on board . World War I . SS " Henry R . Mallory " was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . of Newport News , Virginia ( yard no . 193 ) , and delivered to the Mallory Steamship Line on 21 October 1916 . Named for Mallory Lines president Henry R . Mallory , she operated on a New Orleans – New York route , carrying passengers and freight . U . S . Army service . After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 , the United States Army , needing transports to get its men and materiel to France , had a select committee of shipping executives pore over registries of American shipping . The committee selected " Henry R . Mallory " and thirteen other American - flagged ships that were sufficiently fast , could carry enough fuel in their bunker s for transatlantic crossings , and , most importantly , were in port or not far at sea . After " Henry R . Mallory " discharged her last load of passengers and cargo , she was officially handed over to the Army on 24 May , one of the first three ships acquired . Before any troop transportation could be undertaken , all of the ships were hastily refitted . Of the fourteen ships , ten , including " Henry R . Mallory " , were designated to carry human passengers ; the other four were designated as animal ships . The ten ships designated to carry troops had all of their second - and third - class accommodations ripped out and replaced with berths for troops . Cooking and toilet facilities were greatly expanded to handle the large numbers of men aboard . Gun platforms were installed on each ship before docking at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to have the guns themselves installed . All the ships were manned by merchant officers and crews but carried two U . S . Navy officers , Navy gun crews , quartermaster s , signalmen , and wireless operators . The senior Navy officer on board would take control if a ship came under attack . The American convoy carrying the first units of the American Expeditionary Force was broken into four groups ; " Henry R . Mallory " was in the third group with and , and escorts consisting of cruiser , armed collier , and destroyer s , , and . " Henry R . Mallory " departed with her group on 14 June for Brest , France , steaming at a pace . A thwarted submarine attack on the first convoy group , and reports of heavy submarine activity off of Brest resulted in a change in the convoy ' s destination to Saint - Nazaire . After her return from France , " Henry R . Mallory " sailed again in the 5th convoy on 31 July , the 7th convoy on 8 September , and the 12th convoy on 26 November , all of which sailed from the New York embarkation point in Hoboken , New Jersey . In January 1918 , " Henry R . Mallory " became the first transport to sail from the Newport News embarkation port , when — loaded with eight aero squadrons — she sailed on 17 January . Departing again from Hoboken on 14 March in the 24th convoy , " Henry R . Mallory " began her last journey under Army charter . After arriving in France on 26 March and landing her troops , " Henry R . Mallory " began her return to the United States with Army transport and Navy transport . At 11 : 45 on 4 April , a German submarine fired torpedoes at the group . Through evasive maneuvers , none of the ships were hit , and with timely gunfire targeting the sub , no more was seen of the threat . Arriving back in the United States on 13 April , " Henry R . Mallory " was handed over to the U . S . Navy . U . S . Navy transport duties . After problems with crew discipline aboard Army transports and " Finland " when they were torpedoed , the U . S . Navy , led by the recommendations of Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves , insisted that all troop transports be manned entirely by Navy personnel . This was accomplished soon after so as to avoid the need for what Gleaves called " ignorant and unreliable men " who were " the sweepings of the docks " . Accordingly , " Henry R . Mallory " was handed over to the Navy on 13 April 1918 and commissioned on 17 April . Other than the official change command of the vessel , little else change for " Henry R . Mallory " . She sailed in her first convoy under Navy command on 23 April , and continued carrying troops to France , making five additional trips before the Armistice in November 1918 . In all , " Henry R . Mallory " carried 9 , 756 troops to France . With the fighting at an end , the task of bringing home American soldiers began almost immediately . " Henry R . Mallory " did her part by carrying home 14 , 514 healthy and wounded men in seven roundtrips . " Henry R . Mallory " returned from her last Navy voyage on 29 August 1919 , and was returned to the Mallory Lines the following day . World War II . In the early stages of World War II for the United States , the War Shipping Administration requisitioned " Henry R . Mallory " for use as a civilian - manned troopship in July 1942 . Remaining under the operation of her owners , Agwilines , Inc . , she began operation on U . S . Army schedules in July 1942 , when she sailed from New York to Belfast . After her return to New York in August , she made way to Boston from whence she sailed to Saint John , Wabana , Newfoundland ; Sydney , Nova Scotia ; and Halifax , before returning to New York in October . After first sailing to Boston and Newport , Rhode Island , " Henry R . Mallory " departed New York as a part of Convoy SC - 118 headed for Liverpool via Halifax on 24 January 1943 . The crew on board " Henry R . Mallory " consisted of 9 officers , 68 crewmen , and 34 Naval Armed Guard s ( who manned the 11 guns on deck ) . Also on board were 383 passengers , consisting of 2 civilians , 136 from the U . S . Army , 72 from the U . S . Marine Corps , and 173 from the U . S . Navy . As the convoy , which consisted of 60 ships and 26 escorts , sailed near Iceland , a " wolfpack " of Kriegsmarine U - Boats attacked the convoy repeatedly over a four - day period . Some 20 U - boats participated , ultimately sinking 12 Allied ships , including " Henry R . Mallory " ; three U - boats were lost . It was at 06 : 59 on 7 February 1943 when , traveling in station 33 of the convoy , " Henry R . Mallory " was hit by one torpedo fired from German submarine " U - 402 " around south - southwest of Iceland . Hit in the number three hold on the starboard side , the ship began settling by the stern and listing to port , and sank at about 07 : 30 . Of " Henry R . Mallory " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s ten lifeboats , only three were successfully launched , holding 175 men . Many other men jumped overboard for rafts in the water . None of the other ships in the convoy were aware of the " Mallory " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s predicament . American destroyer — searching for survivors from the convoy ' s sunken rescue ship , SS " Toward " , sunk three hours earlier , also by " U - 402 " — saw lights but was denied permission to investigate . Only when survivors were found by U . S . Coast Guard cutter some four hours later was the fate of " Henry R . Mallory " made clear . " Bibb " rescued 205 men , 3 of whom later died . Another Coast Guard cutter , , rescued a further 22 , of whom 2 later died . Among the 272 dead was the ship ' s master , 48 crewmen , 15 armed guards , and 208 passengers .