History
United States
Name	USAHS St. Olaf
Namesake	St. Olaf
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Union Sulphur Co., Inc.
Ordered	as type ( EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 33
Awarded	14 March 1941
Builder	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland [2]
Cost	$1,111,815 [1]
Yard number	2020
Way number	7
Laid down	6 January 1942
Launched	12 April 1942
Completed	20 May 1942
Fate	Sold to United States Department of War, 22 November 1943
United States
Name	St. Olaf
Owner	United States Department of War
Operator	US Army
Commissioned	July 1944
Recommissioned	1946
Decommissioned	November 1945 June 1947
Refit	Simpson Yard, Boston, July 1944
Identification	USAHS (United States Army Hospital Ship) 1944—1945 USAT (United States Army Transport) 1946—1947
Fate	Returned to MARCOM, laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon, 24 June 1947 Sold for scrapping, 1 April 1963
General characteristics [3]
Class and type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT  DWT 7,176  GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434  t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474  t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp, Harrison, New Jersey) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3  km/h; 13.2  mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Troops	591 patient capacity (Hospital ship) 1,067 troops (Transport ship) 147 dependents (Transport ship)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns
Notes	Armament removed when converted to Hospital Ship

SS St. Olaf was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after St. Olaf, the King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English: Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros, by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad.

Construction

St. Olaf was laid down on 6 January 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 33, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 12 April 1942. ^{[2] [1]}

History

She was allocated to Union Sulphur Co.Inc., on 20 May 1942. ^[4]

On 22 November 1943, she was purchased by the United States Department of War to be converted to a hospital ship. From 23 November to late July 1944, she was converted at Simpson Yard, in Boston, by Bethlehem Steel Co. She was commissioned USAHS St. Olaf in July 1944. ^[5] She had been given the name Jasmine but this wasn't used. ^[6]

During the war, St. Olaf operated in the European-African-Middle East and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters. She was decommissioned in November 1945. ^[5]

She was refit at Standard Shipbuilding Co., San Pedro, California, to a transport ship, for returning military personnel and their dependents from Alaska, to Seattle, Washington. She was recommissioned USAT St. Olaf in 1946, and again decommissioned in June 1947. ^[5]

On 24 June 1947, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon. She was sold for scrapping on 1 April 1963, to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for $62,023.26. She was removed from the fleet on 12 April 1963. ^[4]

References

Bibliography