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USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125)
ex
USAT General Nelson M. Walker (1946 - 1950)
USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo (1946)
USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125) (1945 - 1946)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Xray - November
NIXN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (3) - Vietnam Service Medal (3)
Fourth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal



USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125) was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
Admiral W. S. Benson Class Transport:
  • Laid down, 21 February 1944, as Maritime Commission type (P2-SE2-R1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 683), at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard Inc., Alameda, CA.
  • Launched, 26 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125), 24 April 1945, CAPT. Roger C. Heimer, USCG, in command
  • During World War II USS Admiral H. T. Mayo transported passengers in both the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and Europe-Africa-Middle East Theaters
  • Decommissioned, 3 May 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration for service with the US Army Transportation Service in 1946
  • Commissioned USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo in 1946
  • Renamed USAT General Nelson M. Walker in 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 9 June 1946
  • Reacquired by the US Navy, 1 March 1950
  • Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and placed in service as USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125)
  • During the Korean War USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) participated in the following campaigns:

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    1 to 4 May 1952
    21 to 22 August 1952
    7 October 1952
    14 to 15 November 1952
    Korean Summer-Fall 1953
    3 to 4 May 1953
    16 to 20 June 1953
    Third Korean Winter
    8-9 Feb 53
    19 March 1953
    24 to 26 March 1953
     

  • Placed in inactive status under the command of MSTS Atlantic 16 February 1957
  • Placed out of service, 5 June 1958 and returned to the Maritime Commission
  • Laid up on the Hudson River, Jones Point, as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Reacquired, by the Navy and placed in service, with the Military Sealift Command (MSC), 14 August 1965
  • During the Vietnam War USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) participated in the following campaigns:

    Vietnam Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II  

  • Deactivated in early 1968 and placed in reserve at Caven Point Army Depot in New York harbor
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA., 16 April 1970
  • Struck from the Naval Vessel Register, 15 January 1981
  • USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) earned three battle stars for Korean War service and three campaign stars for Vietnam War service.
  • Transferred to MARAD, 23 December 1994, for disposal
  • Final Disposition, scrapping contract awarded to All Star Metals, Brownsville, TX., 27 September 2004, removed from the James River National Defense Reserve Fleet, 4 January 2005 and scrapped
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,676 t.(lt) 20,120 t.(fl)
    Length 608' 11"
    Beam 75' 6"
    Draft 26' 11"
    Speed 19 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 52
    Enlisted 596
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 270
    Enlisted 4,490
    Cargo Capacity 106,000 cu. ft.
    Armament
    four single 5"/38 cal. dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    fourteen twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 25,600 Bbls
    Diesel 350 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two General Electric turbo-electric engines
    four Combustion Engineering D-type boilers, 600psi 840°
    Ships Service Generators
    four 500Kw 450V A.C.
    four 200Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    two propellers, 18,000shp

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

    Henry Thomas Mayo (8 December 1856 – 23 February 1937) was an admiral of the United States Navy.
    Mayo was born in Burlington, Vermont, 8 December 1856. Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1876 he experienced a variety of naval duties including coastal survey. During the Spanish–American War he served in the gunboat USS Bennington off the west coast of North America.
    In 1907 he was in command of the cruiser USS Albany as she cruised in Central American waters protecting United States citizens and interests as part of the Special Service Squadron.
    Appointed rear admiral in 1913, he commanded the naval squadron involved in the Tampico incident of 9 April 1914. His demands for vindication of national honor further accentuated the tense relations with Mexico.
    Promoted to vice admiral in June 1915, as the new Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, he received the rank of admiral 19 June 1916. For his organization and support of World War I U.S. Naval Forces both in American and European waters, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and various foreign decorations. He evidenced foresight in urging the postwar development of fleet aviation.
    Admiral Mayo retired 28 February 1921, and, for four years, served as Governor of the Philadelphia Naval Home. He retained his commission as an admiral by a 1930 Act of Congress. He died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 23 February 1937.
    Tommy Trampp
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 59k
    Namesake

    Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo USN* and Congressman Thomas S. Butler (center) With a U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant (perhaps LT. Fegan), on board USS Siboney (ID # 2999) with the 13th Regiment returning to the U.S. from France, 8 August 1919.
    US Navy photo # NH 52983 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Courtesy of Major Fegan, USMC, 1928.
    Bill Gonyo
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 62k "USS Admiral H.T. Mayo goes down the ways at 9:00 A.M. Sunday, Nov. 26, 1944, at the Alameda Shipyard at Bethlehem Alameda Shipyard, Inc.
    Sponsor of the vessel was Mrs. George Mayo, wife of Lieut. Colonel George Mayo, who is a son of Admiral Mayo in whose honor the ship was named. This is the second vessel named in honor of Admiral Mayo, the first being the destroyer U.S.S. Mayo, built in 1940 at Bethlehem's Quincy, Mass. shipyard.
    The U.S.S. Mayo is a troop transport of 22,380 deadweight tons and 610 feet length rated among the largest commercial vessels built on the Pacific Coast. She is the sixth ship of its kind to be launched at this yard within a year. Four more similar vessels are still to be launched.
    Designed to be converted to passenger service after the war, the speed, size and appointments when converted will entitle the ship to be rated as a top-flight luxury liner."
    Photo and caption from the archives of the San Francisco Examiner.
    David Smith
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 74k A halftone reproduction of a photograph of USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125) circa 1945, probably in San Francisco Bay, CA. Copied from the book "Troopships of World War 11", By Roland W. Charles.
    US Navy photo # NH 104637 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
    Robert Hurst
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 70k USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125) at anchor, 1945, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Courtesy, Chuck Ulrich, coordinator/historian AP Transport Group
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 79k USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125) coming alongside Pier 15 at Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. 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.
    US Navy photo # NH 98759, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, donation of BM1 Robert G. Tippins, USN Ret., 2003.
    US Naval Historical Center
    USAT Admiral H. T. Mayo
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 171k USAT Admiral H.T. Mayo arriving at San Francisco CA. US Army Port Of Embarkation, Fort Mason in 1946. Tommy Trampp
    Admiral H.T. Mayo
    092212530
    335k USAT Admiral H.T. Mayo entering San Francisco Bay, circa 1946. Note the Marin County coast line in the upper portion of the photo and the cable on the right lower corner which is part of the Golden Gate Bridge, circa 1946.
    US Navy History and Command photo #'s NH 57742 and NH 57742 (cropped)
    Darryl Baker
    Admiral H.T. Mayo
    092212506
    72k
    Admiral H.T. Mayo
    092212531
    219k USAT Admiral H.T. Mayo moored pierside in 1946, location unknown.
    Photo from www.flickr.com by Steve Given
    John Spivey
    USAT General Nelson M. Walker
    Admiral H.T. Mayo 122k USAT General Nelson M. Walker photographed, circa 1949, during the brief interval between her late 1948 conversion and her transfer to the Navy in early 1950. This ship, the last of her class to be upgraded, received only a basic safety at sea conversion and a partial conversion to a dependents carrier in the second half of 1948. Her complement of lifeboats was increased, but she retained her original broken hull profile forward with its gap between the bridge and the forecastle as well as her original bridge and her original rig.
    Photo courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    General Nelson M Walker 175k USAT General Nelson M. Walker underway, circa 1950, location unknown. Jerry Elarton
    General Nelson M Walker 51k USAT General Nelson M. Walker, date and location unknown. Keith Fannon
    General Nelson M Walker 16k USAT General Nelson M. Walker transported General MacArthur's 1950 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limousine to Japan in November 1950. Tommy Trampp
    USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125)
    General Nelson M Walker 87k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) at anchor in Inchon, harbor, South Korea with LSU-684 alongside. LSU-684 was ferrying ex-prisoners of the Communists out to the ship. The General Nelson M. Walker will be the first ship to head for home from Korea with former prisoners as passengers.
    AP wirephoto dated 11 August 1952.
    Ron Reeves
    General Nelson M Walker 48k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) in San Francisco Bay, 9 January 1953 with an Army tug alongside.
    US Navy photo # NH 103683 from the Military Sealift Command collection at the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Naval Historical Center
    General Nelson M Walker 47k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) entering San Francisco Bay, 23 August 1953 after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. She is transporting repatriated prisoners of war back from Korea.
    US Navy photo # NH 103686 by PH3 W.F. Stevens, USN, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Naval Historical Center
    General Nelson M Walker 80k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) underway circa the 1950s, probably in the San Francisco Bay area. Note the numerous passengers on deck
    US Navy photo # NH 103684, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Naval Historical Center
    General Nelson M Walker 125k A blank greeting card of USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Tommy Trampp
    General Nelson M Walker 69k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) underway during the 1950s.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 103685, from the Military Sealift Command collection at US Naval History and Heritage Command
    US Naval History and Heritage Command
    General Nelson M Walker 81k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) passing under the Golden Gate Bridge as she enters San Francisco Bay, circa 1950s. Tommy Trampp
    General Nelson M Walker
    092212529
    33k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) moored pierside, location unknown, circa 1950s. Tommy Trampp
    General Nelson M Walker 312k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) moored pierside, circa 1950s, location possibly Japan or Okinawa. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    General Nelson M Walker 129k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) with 2200 troops aboard, passes through Gaillard Cut of the Panama Canal, the largest troop movement through the waterway since the end of the Korean War. En-route to Bremerhaven, Germany, the movement is part of the Army's "Operation Gyroscope". The troops were loaded aboard the ship from lighters in Monterey Bay near Fort Ord in an experiment to test the feasibility of off-shore loading other than from an established US Port.
    Official US Army photo, from United Press.Telephoto
    Tommy Trampp
    General Nelson M Walker 66k 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 back stamped 12 July 1958.
    US Navy photo # NH 103688, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Naval Historical Center
    General Nelson M Walker 28k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) at Vung Tao Anchorage, Vietnam, 16 April 1967.
    US Navy photo # USN 1124119 by PH1 J.T. Luscan USN
    Robert Hurst
    General Nelson M Walker 33k USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) preparing to disembark troops at Vung Tao Anchorage, Vietnam, 16 April 1967. In the left background a floating crane is off loading LCU landing craft and other items from a cargo ship.
    US Navy photo # NH 103687 by PH1 J.T. Luscan USN, from the Military Sealift Command collection at the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Naval Historical Center
    Caloosahatchee 434k Aerial view of Unit 7 of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA., 28 January 1999. From bottom to top;
    unidentified,
    Santa Cruz
    Vulcan (AR-5),
    Redstone (T-AGM-20),
    2 unidentified APs,
    GEN. Nelson M. Walter (T-AP-125),
    GEN. Wm. O. Darby (IX-510),
    Waccamaw (T-AO-109),
    Canisteo (AO-99),
    Caloosahatchee (AO-98),
    Mississinewa (T-AO-144),
    Pawcatuck (T-AO-108),
    Truckee (T-AO-147),
    Neosho (T-AO-143),
    Benjamin Isherwood (T-AO-191) and
    Henry Eckford (T-AO-192). These two oilers were both lay-berthed incomplete.
     
    General Nelson M Walker 305k New York Times - Ex-USNS General Nelson M. Walker (T-AP-125) in a scrapyard at Brownsville, Tx. Art Beltrone found and rescued a canvas signed “Johnny from New York." But who was Johnny?
    Credit Lee Beltrone
    The “Johnny from New York" canvas is part of an exhibition on the Vietnam War at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan.
    Credit Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
    "A Hunt for the Artist of a Vietnam-Era Ode to New York"
    Tommy Trampp
    General Nelson M Walker 386k

    USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125) / USAT General Nelson M. Walker / USNS General Nelson M. Walker (AP-125)
    Mayo - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)Walker
    Walker - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Heimer, Roger Clarence :RADM USCG24 April 1945 - 10 October 1945
    02CAPT. Collins, Paul Weidner USCG10 October 1945 - 3 May 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Shipboard Newspapers
    MARAD Vessel History Database Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    USS Walker - 15th Field Artillery Regiment
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Navy Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The US Army Transport Photo Index Back To The US Navy Transport (AP) Photo Index
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    Last Updated 28 June 2024