General
Originally built as Southern Cross (a passenger-cargo liner operated in the South American trade) was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 8 November 1939. Two days later, the ship was renamed Wharton and designated AP-7. She was converted to a troop transport and was commissioned on 7 December 1940.
1941
Wharton departed Brooklyn on 7 January, bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where she conducted shakedown before proceeding on through the Panama Canal to her home port, Mare Island, CA. Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, Wharton transported service personnel and their families, as well as cargo, on triangular runs from San Francisco, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor. She also made one trip to Midway Island.
1942
On 6 January, the transport sailed from the west coast for her first wartime voyage to the Hawaiian Islands. A series of runs followed in which Wharton transported service families and dependents home to the west coast on her eastbound passages and troops and cargo to Hawaii on her westbound trips. From June through September, Wharton made three voyages to the Southwest Pacific theater—loading and unloading at such ports as Pago Pago, Samoa; Auckland, New Zealand; Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides; Noumea, New Caledonia; Canton Island, and Suva, Fiji Islands—before returning to the west coast for an overhaul which lasted into October. The troop transport then began a series of trips to the Aleutians which lasted from December 1942 to February 1943, carrying troops from Seattle, WA, to Kodiak and Dutch Harbor and returning with civilians, troops, and patients.
1943
For the remainder of the year, Wharton made five more trips to the Southwest Pacific, during which she revisited Pago Pago, Noumea, Suva, Espiritu Santo, and Wellington, while adding Apia, British Samoa; Guadalcanal, Solomons; and Efate, New Hebrides; to her itinerary.
1944
In January, Wharton joined Transport Division 30 for the Marshall Islands operation. Equipped with seven manned LCVP's, Wharton sortied from Pearl Harbor in Task Group 51.1 on 23 January, bound for Kwajalein and Eniwetok, with 526 Army Headquarters troops embarked. The group operated off the island of Bigej in Kwajalein Atoll from 31 January to 2 February, during the shore bombardment phase of the operation and the initial landings, before moving into the lagoon and anchoring there on 2 February. Wharton remained in the lagoon until she headed for Eniwetok on the 15th. Following her arrival there two days later, the troop transport, while disembarking her troops and unloading her cargo, took on additional duty as a hospital ship. She received on board 85 patients for treatment and subsequently transferred them all to other facilities prior to sailing for Kwajalein on 25 February. On 29 February, Wharton got underway for the El-lice Islands to embark the 11th and 58th Construction Battalions ("Seabees") for transportation to the Admiralties. Wharton later transported 1,782 men of the Royal New Zealand Army from Green Island to Noumea before sailing for Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal. At the latter island—the scene of bitter struggles from August 1942 to February 1943—the ship participated in training exercises with Transport Division 8. After two weeks of practice landings, Wharton sailed for Kwajalein with 1,587 troops of the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Marines and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Marines embarked. At Kwajalein, she transferred the latter unit to LST's for the impending operations against the Japanese-held Marianas. She got underway for Guam on 12 June and spent 17 days at sea before returning to Kwajalein. Underway again on 17 July, the transport made landfall off Guam four days later and soon disembarked her assault troops. That night, she retired to sea until midnight, when she reversed course to return to the beachhead for her role as casualty evacuation ship. On the day that followed, she continued this pattern of operations. Although not designed for such work, Wharton performed yeoman service off the beaches. Two of the ship's lifeboats were kept ready in their davits for instant deployment, and litters containing casualties were brought alongside in landing craft and transferred to these boats which were then hoisted up to the promenade deck level to be rushed to emergency dressing stations in the passenger officers' wardroom spaces. During the landing operations, some 723 patients were logged into Wharton's sick bay, most of them coming on board by way of this improvised "lifeboat elevator." Operating in company with Rixey (APH-3), Wharton returned to the transport area each morning for eight successive days to receive casualties and send an occasional beach party ashore. On 29 July, her part in the Guam operation completed, Wharton headed for Eniwetok with 519 patients embarked. Following the Marianas operation, Wharton returned to the United States, reaching San Francisco on 25 August. After two months of repairs, the ship resumed her transport duties and made a voyage to Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, and Noumea before returning to the United States late in the year.
1945
On 7 January, Wharton got underway for the Philippine Islands, carrying troops and cargo. She disembarked 1,386 troops and 131 tons of cargo at Samar on 14 February and, two days later, unloaded 134 tons of cargo and 869 more troops at Leyte Island. Underway for home on the 17th, the transport stopped at Ulithi before pressing on eastward and arriving at San Francisco on 12 March. Wharton next participated in the operations against Okinawa, arriving offshore on 19 May. The transport soon disembarked 2,118 troops (including 30 Army nurses) in LCM's sent from shore, as Wharton ordinarily carried no landing craft of her own. Several times, the ship went to general quarters and was screened by smoke, but she emerged from the campaign unscathed by kamikazes. On 22 May, the transport departed for the Caroline Islands, with 273 troops and 29 casualties embarked, and arrived at Ulithi on the 28th. Wharton took part in no further combat operations and returned home—via Seeadler Harbor, Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Noumea, and Suva—to San Francisco on 25 June. The ship remained there until 3 August, when she moved to Seattle, WA, before returning to Pearl Harbor. Hostilities had then ended, but the gigantic job of returning troops from the far-flung bases and islands nonetheless remained. Wharton conducted three voyages to the western Pacific—calling at Eniwetok, Guam, Saipan, Samar, Tacloban, and Puerto Princessa through the end of 1945 to pick up Army, Navy, and Marine Corps veterans and return them to the United States in Operation "Magic Carpet."
1946
In the spring, Wharton participated in Operation "Crossroads"—transporting observers to Bikini Atoll for the atomic bomb tests which were to be conducted there in July. She remained there until the completion of her duties on 27 August. She made one round-trip cruise from San Francisco to Guam and one from San Francisco to the Far East, adding Yokohama and Sasebo, Japan; and Shanghai, China; to her list of ports of call.
1947
The transport returned to the United States on 28 January, when she made port at San Francisco prior to heading north to Seattle, and arrived there on 9 February. On 11 March, the Secretary of the Navy declared Wharton "surplus to Navy needs" and authorized her disposal. Decommissioned on 26 March, Wharton was struck from the Navy list on 4 April.
These specifications and ship histories are adapted from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (US Naval Historical Center) and from various other sources. These summaries may not reflect the most recent information concerning the ships' status or operations. If you find an error or discrepancy, please email me at troopships@pier90.org or fill out our online crossing submission form.
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