Photo By Hendrick Dickson | A Graphic Illustration of USNS Upshur (T-AP 198). Military Sealift Command's "MSC75...... read more read more
USNS Upshur (T-AP 198) served Military Sealift Command (formerly Military Sea Transportation Service) from 1952 to 1973. In 1962, with the U.S. and Soviet Union on the brink of a nuclear confrontation over the staging of ballistic missiles on Cuba, the 20,000-ton transport vessel, was used to evacuate 1,725 women, children and civilian employees from Guantanamo Bay.
Upshur docked in Guantanamo Bay, enroute to Panama, Oct. 18, 1962, as part of its monthly passenger service. It was announced to the crew that their departure was postponed because of engineering issues, but in reality, leaders were staging the evacuation of non-essential personnel and dependents due to a blockade of Cuba proposed by President John F. Kennedy.
On Oct. 22, Upshur, along with two other vessels, set sail to transport the families and personnel off the island and out of harm’s way.
MSC Commander at the time, Adm. Roy Alexander “Red” Gano, would use this example of MSC’s adaptability to emergent crises, writing in an article of the March 1964 issue of Proceedings magazines:
“When the Military Sea Transportation Service was established in 1949, it was directed, in part, to be able ‘to provide immediate capability in an emergency.’ Engulfed in the Korean action before it had celebrated its first birthday, MSTS learned that “immediate capability” meant keeping ships in operation, ready to answer the call when it was received. After Korea came the Suez incident, followed by the Lebanon crisis. The Berlin “build-up” of 1961 tested the reflexes of MSTS, and the Cuban crisis of 1962 offered another opportunity to demonstrate the value of a fleet in being, under direct government control.”
Upshur would continue service, making regular transports during the Vietnam War. In 1973, Upshur was placed out service and transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration to be used as a merchant marine training ship, and renamed TS State of Maine. In 1995, the vessel was transferred to Mobile, Alabama, to be used as a platform for testing maritime firefighting technology by the U.S. Coast Guard Fire and Safety test Detachment.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina drove the vessel off its pier and left it stranded near the shipping channel. The vessel suffered further damage after Hurricane Ike raged across the Gulf in 2008. The Navy would salvage the vessel but it was never placed in use again. It was stricken from the national registry and scrapped in 2011.
Upshur was involved in several other notable events in U.S. history to include; transporting troops to Lebanon in 1958 and the Berlin crisis in 1961. Its retirement marked the end of the “troopship” era of the U.S. Navy.
USNS Upshur is named in honor of World War I veteran and Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. William Peterkin Upshur. Upshur, a graduate from the Virginia Military Institute, served in the Marines for more than three decades.
While assigned in Haiti in 1915, his detachment of mounted Marines forded a river in a deep ravine, and they came under the fire of some 400 Haitian Caco bandits. Leading his men forward through the heavy fusillade, Upshur succeeded in establishing a defensive position which protected his command for the night. At daybreak on the following day, Oct. 24, 1915, Upshur led a fierce counterattack which caught the Cacos unaware and routed them. This action materially aided the Marines in their eventual capture of the Haitian stronghold, Fort Dipitie.
Following his return to the continental United States, Upshur performed shore duty at Philadelphia; Annapolis, Md.; and Quantico, Va., before sailing for France in World War I. Following the war, he served in shore billets in repeat tours at Philadelphia, Quantico, and Haiti, before attending the Army Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1924 and 1925.
Serving in California (BB-44) on the staff of the Commander, Battle Force, United States Fleet, in 1929. Upshur attended the Naval War College in 1931; and served briefly at Headquarters, Marine Corps, in Washington, D.C., before attending the Army War College. In the late 1930's Upshur again served ashore at Headquarters, Marine Corps; and later commanded the Marine Corps Base at San Diego. Upshur's last post was that of Commander, Headquarters of the Department of the Pacific, at San Diego—a billet which he filled on Dec. 9, 1941. Major General Upshur subsequently died as a result of injuries suffered in a plane crash near Sitka, Alaska, on July 21, 1943.
| Date Taken: | 03.14.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2024 10:35 |
| Story ID: | 466190 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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