USS Joseph Hewes (AP-50)

Joseph Hewes in 1942
History
United States
Name	Joseph Hewes
Namesake	Joseph Hewes
Ordered	as SS Excalibur
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, New Jersey
Laid down	4 November 1929
Launched	5 August 1930
Completed	18 December 1930
Acquired	8 January 1942
Commissioned	USS Joseph Hewes (AP-50) 1 May 1942
Stricken	struck from the Naval Register, 7 December 1942
Fate	Sunk 11 November 1942
Notes	Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Algeria-Morocco landing, 8–11 November 1942
General characteristics
Displacement	14,100 t.
Length	450 ft (140 m)
Beam	61 ft 6 in (18.75 m)
Draft	26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Propulsion	steam turbines
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	358
Armament	1 × single 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount 4 × single 3 in (76 mm) gun mounts 8 × single 20 mm gun mounts

USS Joseph Hewes (AP-50/APA-22), formerly SS Excalibur, was a troop transport for the United States Navy during World War II commanded by Captain Robert McLanhan Smith Jr. A part of the Center Attack Group of Admiral Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force, Operation Torch, Joseph Hewes was sunk on November 11, 1942 by the German submarine U-173 in Fedala Roads off French Morocco coast during the Naval Battle of Casablanca.