SS Henry R. Mallory
USS Henry R. Mallory in port, c. 1918–19
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| History | |
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| Name: | SS Henry R. Mallory |
| Namesake: | Henry R. Mallory |
| Owner: | Mallory Lines |
| Launched: | 1916 |
| Fate: | Expropriated by U.S. Army, 24 May 1917 |
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United States
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| Name: | USAT Henry R. Mallory |
| Acquired: | 24 May 1917 |
| Out of service: | 13 April 1918 |
| Fate: | transferred to U.S. Navy |
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United States
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| Name: | USS Henry R. Mallory |
| Acquired: | 13 April 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 17 April 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 August 1919 |
| Fate: | Returned to civilian owners |
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| Name: | SS Henry R. Mallory |
| Acquired: | 1920 |
| Fate: | Sunk 7 February 1943 by U-402 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,910 t |
| Length: | 440 ft 2 in (134.16 m) |
| Beam: | 54 ft 6 in (16.61 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Troops: | 2,200 |
| Armament: |
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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 the German submarine U-402 in the North Atlantic ocean and sank with the loss of 272 men—over half of those on board.
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.
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 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, quartermasters, signalmen, and wireless operators. The senior Navy officer on board would take control if a ship came under attack.
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