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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Rochambeau (AP-63)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Golf - Delta
 NIGD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Rochambeau Class Transport:
  • Built in 1933 as Maréchal Joffre at Societe Provencals de Constructions Navales, La Ciotat, France for the Societe des Services Contractuels des Messageries Maritimes
  • Manned by the Free French after the fall of France in 1940
  • Taken over by the Maritime Commission, 20 April 1942, at San Francisco, CA., and transferred to the US Navy
  • Commissioned, 27 April 1942, LT. Thomas G. Warfield in command
  • Renamed and designated USS Rochambeau (AP-63), 29 April 1942
  • Decommissioned and transferred to the Maritime Commission, 17 March 1945
  • Returned to French custody, renamed Maréchal Joffre
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 14,242 t.
    Length 470' 10"
    Beam 63' 11"
    Draft 26'
    Speed 15 kts.
    Complement 381
    Passengers 3,915
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    eight 1.1" AA guns, replaced with eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion Diesel
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Pre-WWII Merchant Service
    Rochambeau 118k
    Namesake
    Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre 12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931), was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in September 1914.
    His political position waned after unsuccessful offensives in 1915, the German attack on Verdun in 1916, and the disappointing results of the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme in 1916. At the end of 1916 he was promoted to Marshal of France, the first such promotion under the Third Republic, and moved to an advisory role, from which he quickly resigned. Later in the war he led an important mission to the United States.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Rochambeau 112k MS Maréchal Joffre probably shown between her entry into service in 1933 and an overhaul in 1937 during which her diesel engines were supercharged and she was repainted white.
    Photo courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Rochambeau (AP-63)
    Rochambeau 92k
    Namesake
    Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a military officer who commanded the French expeditionary force sent in 1780 to assist in the United States’ rebellion against Great Britain. He commanded all French forces at the Siege of Yorktown and retired after fifty years of service as a Maréchal de France.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Rochambeau
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35938    		 154k USS Rochambeau (AP-63) at Mare Island Navy Yard, 2 October 1942 following conversion for naval service. This view shows some features added during conversion and the distinctive rectangular smokestacks favored by her French owner, the Messageries Maritimes line, for its diesel-propelled liners.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35938, and US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35941, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green and Robert Hurst
    Rochambeau
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35941    		 134k
    Rochambeau
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35948    		 100k USS Rochambeau (AP-63) near the Mare Island Navy Yard, 5 October 1942 after completing conversion for naval service.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35948, US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35947 and US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35949, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green and Robert Hurst
    Rochambeau
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35947    		 99k
    Rochambeau
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-35949    		 92k
    Rochambeau 59k USS Rochambeau (AP-63) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, August 1947    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Post-WWII Merchant Service
    Rochambeau 7k Ex-Rochambeau (AP-63) being operated for the WSA by the French Government as MS Maréchal Joffre to transport US troops from Europe to the US after the war. Note the extra life rafts along her starboard side. Gunter Krebs
    Rochambeau 190k MS Maréchal Joffre moored pierside at Alexandria, Egypt, in 1951. Note her rebuilt funnel.
    Photo by Willem van De Poll. Van de Poll photo collection, Nationaal Archief (Dutch National Archives)    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Rochambeau (AP-63)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Warfield, Thomas Glover 27 April 1942 - ?
    03CAPT. Robinson, Stephan Boutwell, USN (USNA 1912)14 October 1943 - 24 July 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 20 May 2022