USNS Henry Gibbins ( T - AP - 183 ) USNS " Henry Gibbins " ( T - AP - 183 ) was a troop transport that served with the United States Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) during the 1950s . Prior to her MSTS service , she served as US Army transport USAT " Henry Gibbins during World War II . She later served with the New York Maritime Academy as TS " Empire State IV and with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as USTS " Bay State " . " Henry Gibbins " was one of four ships planned for the United States Lines north Atlantic service and ordered under Maritime Commission contract from the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company of Pascagoula , Mississippi with the allocated name of ' American Banker ' . Laid down on 23 August 1941 ; she was launched on 11 November 1942 as Biloxi . She was delivered to the Army Transportation Service 27 February 1943 as " Henry Gibbins " and served the Army as a troop transport during World War II . Following the war , the " Henry Gibbins " was refitted as a " war brides ship , " a baby passenger liner . Three decks of cabins , lounges , two formal staircases , a formal dining room and substantial plumbing upgrades were installed , and the Army operated her to transport American military personnel and their dependents on a route between Bremerhaven and the US East Coast until she was transferred to the U . S . Navy in 1950 . Navy service . " Henry Gibbins " was acquired by the U . S . Navy from the U . S . Army on 1 March 1950 , and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service . During the Korean War she transported men and equipment from New York to the Caribbean and Canal Zone ports , prior to their assignment in the Pacific . In 1953 , " Henry Gibbins " operated on the New York to Bremerhaven , Germany , and Southampton , England , runs , making a total of 12 cruises to these European ports . From 1954 until late 1959 the veteran transport steamed from New York to the Caribbean over 75 times , sailed to the Mediterranean on 3 occasions and crossed the Atlantic to Northern Europe 8 times . During this time " Henry Gibbins " shuttled thousands of troops and tons of supplies between the United States and her foreign bases . " Henry Gibbins " was transferred from MSTS to the United States Maritime Administration 2 December 1959 , at Fort Schuyler , New York , for service with the New York Maritime College . The college named her TS " Empire State IV " and she retained that name until being transferred to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1973 . At that time she was renamed USTS " Bay State " . During the winter of 1976 - 77 , one of the coldest in fifty years , the " Bay State " suffered serious ice damage to her hull at her berth in Buzzards Bay at the southern end of the Cape Cod Canal . The hull plates were repaired and the ship continued to serve as a training vessel for two more years . In the summer of 1977 she carried cadets to Europe . In the summer of 1978 she made a training cruise to the Mediterranean . The vessel was returned to the Maritime Administration after her final training cruise in 1978 . Between the hull damage she had sustained in 1977 , her age , and an increase in Massachusetts Maritime Academy ' s enrollment , she no longer suited the Academy ' s requirements . According to the U . S . Maritime Administration , the ship was scrapped in 1983 after suffering an engine room fire . Notes .