Small Coastal Transport APc-1 class, APc-101 at sea
Class overview
Builders	Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Fulton Shipyard Cryer & Sons Warren Boat Yard Camden Shipbuilding Hodgdon Yachts Anderson & Cristofani Lynch Shipbuilding Harry G. Marr W. A. Robinson, Inc. Bristol Yachts Noank Shipbuilding
Operators	United States Navy
Built	1942-1943
In commission	1942–1945
General characteristics
Type	Small coastal transport
Displacement	100 tons[1][2]
Length	103 ft 3 in (31.47 m)
Beam	21 ft 3 in (6.48 m)
Draft	9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Propulsion	400 hp (300 kW) diesel engine
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	21
Armament	2 x 20 mm cannon

APc-1-class small coastal transport, drawing in camouflage, measure 31, design 20-L

USS APc-46, underway a US Navy APc-1-class Small Coastal Transport

APc-1-class small coastal transports were a troopship design used during World War 2 for the United States Navy (USN). These ships were assigned to the Pacific War where they transported supplies, personnel and munitions around the Island hopping campaign. Many of the ships were under threat of air, sea and submarine attack. A few ships of the class received battle stars for combat valor, including USS APc-15, USS APc-22, USS APc-25 and USS APc-26. The wooden-hulled ships were built by many different shipyards. Following the war, many of them were converted to fishing vessels.

Design

The design is based on the wooden-hulled USN AMc Accentor-class minesweeper. The USN Chief of Naval Operations gave the order for the construction of 50 AMc coastal minesweepers, AMc-150–AMc-199 on January 19, 1942. The coastal minesweepers design was modified, as the need for a small coastal transports was great at the time. The Bureau of Ships issued the specifications for the modified coastal minesweepers design for ships AMc 150–AMc-199 in February 1942. The Chief of Naval Operations issued the request that the 50 ships be constructed as "raider transports, AP," for use in the South Pacific War on April 13, 1942. Many planned and under construction AMc coastal minesweepers were changed to APc small coastal transports. Of the many APc-1-class small coastal transports built, ten ships, APc-85 to APc-94, were transferred to work in the United States Atlantic Fleet. Some were transfer to the United Kingdom under the Lend-Lease act. After the war the USN converted some to personnel ferries with a capacity of up to 250 persons by removing some of the open sea ballast and removal of deck guns. Many after the war were sold to be fishing boats.^[1][2] The specifications for modified coastal minesweepers redesign, where given by the District Craft Development Board on April 20, 1942, The redesign gave three planned uses for new APc transport ships:^[1][3][4]

1. Transportation of two officers and 74 men (possibly a raiding party) for maximum for each of 24 hours.
2. Transportation of two officers, 15 men, and a cargo of 1,500 cu ft (42 m³) for 24 hours.
3. Carrying a cargo of 4,000 cu ft (110 m³) (17 tons) and no passengers on a voyage of 2,500 mi (4,000 km).

Description

The ships had a displacement of 100 tons, a length of 103 ft 3 in (31.47 m), a beam of 21 ft 3 in (6.48 m) and a draft of 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m). For service electrical need the ships had two diesel 30 kW 120V DC service generators. The ships had a fuel capacity of 145 barrels (6,100 US gal) of diesel fuel. The ships had a large boom with a capacity of 3 tons to load and unload cargo. Ships were armed with two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.^[1][2]

Power was from one Atlas 6HM2124 diesel engine, to a Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, to a single propeller with 400 shaft horsepower (300 kW), built in Oakland, California or One Enterprise Engine DMG-6 diesel engine with a single propeller with 400 shp.

Shipyards

Many of the APc transport ships were built by small shipyards and boatyards that switched from yacht, sailboat and powerboat building to military construction.

APc transport ships were built in 1942 and 1943 by:

• Nathanael Greene Herreshoff in Bristol, Rhode Island
• Fulton Shipyard in Antioch, California
• Cryer & Sons in Oakland, California
• Warren Boat Yard in Warren, Rhode Island^[5]
• Camden Shipbuilding in Camden, Maine^[6]
• Hodgdon Yachts in Boothbay, Maine^[7]
• Anderson & Cristofani in San Francisco, California^[8]
• Lynch Shipbuilding in San Diego, California
• Harry G. Marr in Damariscotta, Maine^[9]
• W. A. Robinson, Inc. in Ipswich, Massachusetts^[10]
• Bristol Yachts in Seekonk, Massachusetts
• Noank Shipbuilding in Noank, Connecticut^[11]

Notable ships

• USS APc-15, built by Camden Ship Building.
• USS APc-21, built by Hodgdon Brothers, sank December 17, 1943 during landing in the Battle of Arawe, was struck by a bomb during an enemy air attack off Arawe, New Britain.
• USS APc-25, built by Fulton Shipyard, renamed Cape Scott then Cape Cross.^[12]

Ships in class

APc-80 to APc-84, APc-104 to APc-107, APc-112 to APc-115, APc-99 and APc-100 were canceled before construction started.^[13]

See also

• Wooden boats of World War 2

References

External links

• Photo gallery of APc-1-class transport at NavSource Naval History
• "USS APc-25". Naval History and Heritage Command.
• Campbell, Kenneth (5 November 2008). "Cape Scott (from bows)". Flickr. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
• Campbell, Kenneth (5 November 2008). "Cape Scott (from aft)". Flickr. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
• ap0013 (23 August 2010). "Cape Cross - Shipwrecked!". Flickr. Retrieved 13 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)