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Excerpts
from the USS Hermitage War Diary
Concerning transport of 11th Armored Division troops
from the United
States to the European Theater of Operations
27 Sept.
1944
(Moored at Staten Island, N.Y.).
1205-1315 Embarked 112 US
Army Officers and 1163 US Army Enlisted Men.
28 Sept. 1944
1100-1630 Embarked 205
US Army Officers and 4508 US Army Enlisted Men.
29 Sept. 1944
0400 All preparations
for getting underway.....sailing under orders
for Convoy CU-41.
1036 Steaming at 7.0 knots,
commenced forming convoy. (44.37 from NY, 7 from
Boston).
Captain E.H. Tillman,
JR.....is Convoy Commodore. Captain W.L.
Benson.....USS Winslow.....is the Escort
Commander......
3 and 4 Oct. 1944
.....Voting by Federal
ballot was held.
7 Oct. 1944
0912 Medical personnel
transferred by breeches buoy to
DE-383.....emergency appendectomy.....on board
the SS Santa Elisa. (Operation for a burst
appendix was performed on ship’s mess table).
1138 Screening escort
reported under water contact, and dropped
several depth charges. Results not known......
( No record of sinking contained in Commodore’s
Report).
9 Oct. 1944
2052 Moored starboard
side.....Southampton, England.
10 Oct. 1944
0650 Commenced
debarking.
1930 Completed debarking.....a total
of.....5994.....personnel.
Notes:
1) The USS Hermitage was
launched in 1925 as the Italian luxury liner Conte
Biancamano.
In 1942 she was interned by the
United States at Cristobal, in the Panama Canal
Zone. Following conversion to a U.S. Navy
troopship, she was commissioned as the USS
Hermitage (AP-54) on August 14, 1942. During WWII,
she was engaged in troop transport for the African,
Pacific, and Normandy campaigns. In addition to
transporting soldiers, sailors, and marines, she at
times carried refugees and prisoners of war.
Following decommissioning by the U.S. Navy ship on
August, 1946, she was returned to the Italian
government. Refurbished, she reentered service as a
passenger liner. She was decommissioned and laid up
in1960. The bridge, some staterooms, and the
ballroom were salvaged and are now on display in
the National Museum of Science and Technology in
Milan, Italy.
2) On the return trip from England to the USA in
Oct. 1944, the Hermitage carried 2600 German prisoners
of war.
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