Information About Specific Crossings
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The records of ships used to carry troops to their theaters of operations were destroyed intentionally in 1951. "According to our [U. S. National Archives] records, in 1951 the Department of the Army destroyed all passenger lists, manifests, logs of vessels, and troop movement files of United States Army Transports for World War II." (Sorry, but there was no word on why the records were destroyed.) Thus there is no longer an official record of who sailed on what ship, though there are still valuable sources that can be found. So this web page is an informal collecting ground for information about troop ship crossings.

If you have information about a crossing, please submit your information.

More Information

Quick Info About This Ship
Ship Type: Passenger Ship
War Service Dates: March 1940 - September 1946
Built: 1930-1936 - John Brown & Co., LTD., Clydebank, Scotland
Troop Capacity: 15,000+ troops
Disposition: Hotel & convention facility in Long Beach, CA

1943
December 23 (1942) to January 28
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to Massawa, Eritrea (via Freetown, Cape Town, Aden, and Suez)
Units on Board: 10,669 troops (to Massawa) & 800 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:

February 3 to February 27

Embarkation/Debarkation: Massawa, Eritrea to Sydney, Australia (via Maldive Islands, and Freemantle)
Units on Board: 9,995 troops (to Sydney) & 877 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
March 22 to April 22
Embarkation/Debarkation: Sydney, Australia to Gourock, Scotland (via Freemantle, Cape Town, and Freetown)
Units on Board: 8,326 troops (to Gourock) & 874 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
May 5 to May 11
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: Unknown
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
June 1 to June 6
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 1077th Signal Company Service Group
Convoy Number: None known
Source: National Archives file of the 1077th Signal Company Service Group (via T. Ensminger) and S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
June 10 to June 16
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 6,235 passengers & 922 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
June 24 to June 29
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 15,281 troops & 927 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
July 4 to July 9
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 4,427 passengers & 908 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
July 23 to July 30
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 15,740 troops & 943 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
August 5 to August 9
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 2,305 passengers & 1,036 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
August 27 to August 31
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 15,116 troops & 937 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
September 5 to September 10
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: Unknown
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
September 20 to September 25
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock/Glasgow, Scotland
Units on Board: John de Blasio; others
Convoy Number: None known
Source: John de Blasio in Lucky 7th (1990) p. 222 and S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
September 29 to October 5
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: Unknown
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
October 9 to October 15
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: Royal Canadian Air Force troops including James La Force (either on this trip or the 43-10-24 sailing)
Convoy Number: None known
Source: James La Force and S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:

From: James La Force (laforce@interlog.com)
Date Received: 97-01-30 16:54:27 EST

One clarification..the Queen Mary sailed alone, so you can erase the question mark. I was on it ...we took 8 days our group [R.C.A.F units] were the last to board and it sailed next morning. - Jim

From: James La Force (laforce@interlog.com)
Date Received: 97-01-31 20:57:01 EST

We were waiting at Halifax, Nova Scotia, to go overseas. On the third day we were roused by 5.30 a.m., marched to the station, boarded a train which took us back to Montreal, then south along the east shore of Lake Champlain, eventually arriving at Q.M. on the New Jersey side.We sailed the next morning. We zig- zagged for 8 days with an occasionaly observed Martin Mariner air escort for the first three. Entering the Firth of Clyde, a Spitfire flew alongside us so low that we, who were up on the promenade deck, could look down on it as it went by waggling its wings. The Q.M. had a terrible roll, the seas were high and I wondered at times if we were going to roll right over. [I was not a seaman]. Anyway, we made it, and after a time of further training and a stint at a Conversion Unit [to 4-engined Halifax bombers] I arrived at 425 Squadron, which was itself converting from Wellingtons to Halifaxes after a tour in North Africa. We started operations early February 1944. The rest as they say is history ...

From: James La Force (laforce@interlog.com)
Date Received: 97-03-31 20:11:14 EST

The closest I can remember for our sailing date was September or October of 1943 [more likely October 1943..it was COLD]. I was situated in the "Blue" section on the promenade deck [open to the elements along the sides]. We had badges [ blue in my case] to identify the area to which we belonged. Woe betide anyone found out of his coloured area. We ate twice daily and we had to run down to, and up from, the bowels of the ship where we bolted our meals and swished out our mess tins. I made friends with a couple of G.I.s [kids like me..I wonder if they made it back] on the trip, but naturally we went our different ways when we reached the Scottish port where we debarked on small lighters, boarded a train, and travelled all day and all night to Bournemouth on the Channel coast, where we encountered our first enemy action in the form of air raids. [It was still an exciting war, but in a few months the enchantment had faded.].

October 18 to October 24
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: Unknown
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
October 24 to November 2
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: Royal Canadian Air Force troops including James La Force (either on this trip or the 43-10-09 sailing)
Convoy Number: None known
Source: James La Force and S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
November 5 to November 11
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 1,475 passengers & 903 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
November 15 to November 20
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 12,146 troops & 904 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
November 24 to November 30
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 1,203 passengers & 910 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
December 3 to December 9
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 11,907 troops & 1,080 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
December 14 to December 20
Embarkation/Debarkation: Gourock, Scotland to New York, NY
Units on Board: 2,847 passengers & 1,087 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:
December 23 to December 29
Embarkation/Debarkation: New York, NY to Gourock, Scotland
Units on Board: 11,990 troops including 118th AAA Gun Battalion; 6th Naval Beach Battalion, 5th Engineer Special Brigade, 1st Infantry Division & 1,087 crew
Convoy Number: None known
Source: Father-in-law (118th AAA Gun Bn) of W. Obendorf, R. Pinches (6th Naval Beach Bn), via J. Baker, and S. Harding - Gray Ghost: The RMS Queen Mary at War
Notes:

This information, specifications and resulting ship histories are gathered and compiled from from various sources that many times conflict. If you find an error or discrepancy, please email me at troopships@pier90.org or
fill out our online crossing submission form.
If you are interested in the histories of merchant ships that served during WWII (as well as during other wars) in any capacity or that were lost due to wartime activities, please watch for our sister site
"Liners and Merchant Ships At War" that is currently under construction.