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 . " 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 . World War II . 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 .