USS Susan B . Anthony ( AP - 72 ) USS " Susan B . Anthony " ( AP - 72 ) was a turbo - electric ocean liner of the Grace Steamship Company that was built in 1930 , became a United States Navy transport ship in 1942 and was sunk by enemy action in 1944 . Building and civilian service . The New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden , New Jersey completed the ship in March 1930 as SS " Santa Clara " . She had six water tube boilers with a combined heating surface of and a working pressure of 300 lb / in . " Santa Clara " was turbo - electric : her boilers supplied steam to two turbo generator s that fed current to electric motors on her twin propeller shafts . General Electric made her turbo generators and propulsion motors , and her power output was rated at 2 , 660 NHP " Santa Clara " gave more than a decade of civilian service before being commissioned into the Navy in 1942 . Notable passengers included Walt Disney and some of his staff in 1941 . They had been in Chile researching for the film " The Three Caballeros " , left Valparaíso on " Santa Clara " on 4 October and reached New York on 20 October . Entry into Navy service . The Navy chartered " Santa Clara " on 7 August 1942 and Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ' s New York yard converted her for war service . The Navy renamed the ship after the women ' s suffrage and women ' s rights campaigner Susan B . Anthony , making her one of the few Naval vessels named after a woman . She was commissioned on 7 September 1942 under the command of Captain Henry Hartley . Invasion of North Africa , 1942 . After almost a month of drills and exercises in the lower Chesapeake Bay , the transport — carrying troops and equipment — left the bay on 23 October for the Operation Torch the Allied invasion of North Africa . At the end of a 15 - day crossing , she reached the transport area off Mehdia , French Morocco . Early the next morning , on 8 November , the Northern Attack Group opened the assault on Mehdia and Port Lyautey . Despite the general difficulties encountered in handling landing craft , she disembarked her troops and unloaded their equipment in relatively good order . She stayed in the area for a week before sailing on the 15th for Safi , Morocco to unload the rest of her cargo . On 18 November she left Safi for Norfolk , Virginia , and arrived at Hampton Roads on the last day of the month . Over the next seven months " Susan B . Anthony " made three voyages bringing troops and supplies across the Atlantic to North Africa ; the first to Casablanca and the remainder to Oran , Algeria . Invasion of Sicily , 1943 . After a brief voyage to the Gulf of Arzeu ferrying men and equipment , she returned to Oran on 25 June 1943 to prepare for the Allied invasion of Sicily . She embarked men and loaded material on 30 June - 1 July , refueled on the 2nd , and left Oran three days later . " Anthony " approached the coast of Sicily on the 9th near the town of Scoglitti . She spent the early hours of the next day landing troops and equipment . By 0435 hrs enemy aircraft were attacking the ships of the assault force . Bombs fell close to " Anthony " but she emerged with only minor damage from bomb fragments . Just before 0600 hrs she started toward the inshore anchorage , but withdrew after shore batteries fired on her . About four hours later she was able to enter the anchorage and send her salvage crew to aid broached and disabled landing craft . Through that day and the next she came under repeated air attacks . Just after 2200 hrs on the 11th a twin - engine plane commenced an attack run at her , but by the time it had closed within , her anti - aircraft gun s had shot it down in flames . Less than 10 minutes later another enemy bomber met a similar fate . Late in the afternoon of 12 July " Susan B . Anthony " left for Oran . There she loaded prisoners ; sailed for the US ; and reached New York on 3 August 1943 . Atlantic convoys , 1943 – 44 . For the next 10 months " Anthony " crossed and recrossed the Atlantic moving soldiers and cargo between various ports in the US , England , Iceland , Northern Ireland and Scotland in preparation for Operation Overlord , the cross - channel invasion of Europe at Normandy . On these voyages she visited ports including Belfast , Northern Ireland ; Holy Loch , Gourock , and Glasgow in Scotland ; Hvalfjörður and Reykjavík , Iceland ; Mumbles and Milford Haven in Wales , and Newport . Sinking off Normandy , 7 June 1944 . Early in the morning of 7 June 1944 , while cruising through a swept channel off Normandy , " Susan B . Anthony " struck a mine that exploded under her number 4 hold . Immediately she lost all power , and her rudder went hard left and stuck . By 0805 hrs , holds numbers 4 and 5 were shipping water badly , and the ship took on an 8° list to starboard . In an effort to save his ship , the commanding officer , Commander TL Gray , USNR , ordered the embarked soldiers to move to the port side . This human ballast soon brought " Anthony " back to an even keel . At 0822 hrs fleet tug came alongside , prepared to tow the paralyzed " Anthony " to shallow water . However , fires soon erupted in her engine and fire rooms , and she began to settle more rapidly . The captain now concluded that the ship was lost and ordered her abandoned . With " Pinto " and two destroyers alongside , the troops were evacuated expeditiously and without resorting to lifeboats and rafts . " Anthony " s crew followed closely behind the soldiers . By 0905 hrs , the main deck was awash at the stern and she was listing badly . The last member of the salvage crew hit the water at about 1000 hrs , with Commander Gray soon following . At 1010 hrs " Susan B . Anthony " sank . No one was killed , and few of the 45 wounded were seriously hurt . All 2 , 689 people aboard were saved , which the " Guinness Book of World Records 2000 " lists as the largest rescue of people without loss of life . " Susan B . Anthony " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 29 July 1944 . Honors . " Susan B . Anthony " was awarded three service star s for World War II service .