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Photo # NH 57742:  USS Admiral H. T. Mayo at Fort Mason, San Francisco between September 1945 and January 1946.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125), 1945-2005.
Later USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo,
USAT General Nelson M. Walker, and
USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125)

USS Admiral H. T. Mayo, a 9,676-ton (light displacement) Admiral W. S. Benson class transport built at Alameda, California to the Maritime Commission's P2-SE2-R1 design, was commissioned in April 1945. After shakedown she steamed to the Atlantic and, in June, carried 5,819 released prisoners of war from Le Havre, France, to Boston. Her next voyage took her to Marseilles, France, where she embarked 4,888 quartermaster and engineer troops and transported them to Okinawa, arriving in September. Admiral H. T. Mayo then began the first of several "Magic Carpet" trips, bringing servicemen home from the Western Pacific. The ship completed the last of these voyages in April 1946 and sailed for New York, where she was decommissioned in May 1946 and transferred, via the Maritime Commission, to the U.S. Army.

The Army operated the ship with a civilian crew as part of its water transportation service and soon renamed her General Nelson M. Walker. In mid-1948 she received upgraded accommodations for military dependents. General Nelson M. Walker returned to the Navy in March 1950 when most of the Army's larger ships became part of the newly-created Military Sea Transportation Service. Still civilian-manned and retaining her "General" name, the ship made numerous crossings of the Pacific in support of the Korean War. To increase her troop capacity, in early 1952 she was refitted as an "austerity" transport, with most amenities removed. Later in 1952 she carried Greek and Turkish troops from their homelands to Korea, and in August 1953 she brought the first group of 328 returning American prisoners of war home from Korea. General Nelson M. Walker continued to operate in the Pacific until January 1957, when she transited to the Atlantic and carried out a single round trip voyage to Bremerhaven, West Germany. Placed in ready reserve status in February 1957, she was berthed in the Maritime Administration's Hudson River reserve fleet from June 1957 to June 1958 and again after January 1959, when she was transferred to the Maritime Administration and stricken from the Navy List.

In August 1965 the Navy reacquired General Nelson M. Walker, reinstating her on the Navy List to support the buildup of U.S. forces in Vietnam. She carried out troop lifts to Southeast Asia through the end of 1967 and was again inactivated at New York in early 1968. She joined the Maritime Administration's James River, Virginia, reserve fleet in April 1970 and was formally transferred to the Maritime Administration in July 1971. The transport was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1981 to clear the way for transfer to a private organization for operation as a hospital ship, but the transfer did not materialize. In December 1994 the Navy passed full ownership of the ship to the Maritime Administration, which put her on indefinite hold for possible use in civil emergencies. The hold was lifted in September 1998 and the ship was ready for disposal by June 2001. In January 2005, nearly a half-century after completion, General Nelson M. Walker was towed out of the James River Reserve Fleet en route to a Brownsville, Texas scrap yard.

This page features selected views concerning USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125), USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo and USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 104637

USS Admiral H.T. Mayo
(AP-125)

Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1945, probably in the San Francisco Bay area, California.
Transferred to the U.S. Army in 1946 and renamed General Nelson M. Walker, this ship became USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) in 1950.

Copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 415 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 98759

USS Admiral H. T. Mayo
(AP-125)

Coming alongside Pier 15 at Fort Mason, San Francisco, between September 1945 and January 1946 bringing servicemen home from the western Pacific.
Many of her approximately 5,000 passengers are topsides watching her arrival. Note the two 5"/38 guns on her stern; she had two more forward.

Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 545 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 57742

USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo


Serving as an Army transport circa 1947.
The Army soon renamed her USAT General Nelson M. Walker.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1967

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103683

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Photographed on 9 January 1953 in San Francisco Bay with an Army tug alongside.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103686

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Entering San Francisco Bay on 23 August 1953 after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge.
She is transporting repatriated prisoners of war back from Korea.
Photographed by PH3 W.F. Stevens, USN.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 46KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103684

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Photographed circa the 1950s, probably in the San Francisco Bay area.
Note the numerous passengers on deck.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 515 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103685

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Photographed during the 1950s.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103688

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Being assisted alongside a pier by the tug Cynthia Moran.
The photograph, taken by the Moran Towing and Transportation Co., Inc., of New York City, is backstamped 12 July 1958.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection.

Online Image: 65KB; 550 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103687

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Preparing to disembark troops at Vung Tao Anchorage, Vietnam, on 16 April 1967.
In the left background a floating crane is offloading LCU landing craft and other items from a cargo ship.
Taken by Photographer's Mate First Class J.T. Luscan.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 64KB; 495 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103689

USNS General Nelson M. Walker
(T-AP-125)

Army troops from Fort Bragg, N.C., embarking at Charleston, S.C. for Vietnam on 12 November 1965.

Photograph by Capt. Vitaly V. Uzoff, U.S. Army

Official U.S. Army Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 


In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125) and USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125). The following list features some of these images:

The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • Photo #: USN 626703
    USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) on 23 August 1953 entering San Francisco Bay with repatriated prisoners of war from Korea. This photo, showing the ship just after it passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, was taken by PH3 W. F. Stevens shortly before Photo # NH 103686 (seen above).

  • Photo #: USN 1045862
    A port quarter aerial view of USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) underway taken during the 1950s.

  • Photo #: USN 1124119
    A starboard side aerial view of USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125), dated 6 April 1967, as she prepared to disembark troops at the Vung Tau Anchorage, South Vietnam.

  • Photo #: USN 1124120
    A starboard bow aerial view of USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125), dated 6 April 1967, as she prepared to disembark troops at the Vung Tau Anchorage, South Vietnam. Photo by PH1 J. T. Luscan, USN.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 1 May 2006
    New image added 12 February 2007