USS J. Franklin Bell

For other ships with the same name, see SS Keystone State.
J. Franklin Bell on 28 April 1944
History
United States
Name
  • SS Keystone State (1920–22)[3]
  • SS President McKinley (1922–40)[3]
  • USS J. Franklin Bell (1940–42)[3]
Namesake
BuilderNew York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey[1]
Laid down1918
Launched15 May 1920[2]
Completed1 March 1921
Acquired
  • for the US Army, 26 October 1940
  • for the US Navy, 26 December 1941
Commissionedas AP-34, 2 April 1942
Decommissioned20 March 1946
Maiden voyage6 August 1921[3]
Renamed
  • President McKinley (9 June 1922)
  • J. Franklin Bell (26 October 1940)
ReclassifiedAP-34 to APA-16, 1 February 1943
Identification
Honours and
awards		6 battle stars for World War II service
FateSold for scrap, 3 April 1948
General characteristics
Class and typeHarris-class attack transport
Tonnage
Displacement13,529 tons (lt), 21,900 t.(fl)
Length
  • 516.5 feet (157.4 m)[1] p/p
  • 535 feet 2 inches (163.12 m) o/a
Beam72.2 feet (22.0 m)[1]
Draft31 feet 6 inches (9.60 m)
Depth27.8 feet (8.5 m)[1]
Installed power12,000 shp
Propulsion
Speed17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h)[3]
Capacity
  • troops: 103 officers, 1,740 enlisted
  • Cargo: 200,000 cubic feet (5,700 m3); 2,300 tons
Complement
  • officers 46,
  • enlisted 637
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament

USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16) was a Harris-class attack transport ship. She was built in 1921 and spent 20 years in merchant service as a passenger and cargo liner. She was acquired for the United States Army in 1940 and transferred to the United States Navy shortly after the USA entered the Second World War. She served throughout and after the Pacific War, was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped in 1948.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  2. ^ Villard, Harold G., ed. (1920). "Keystone State Launched". The Nautical Gazette. 98 (22 May 1920). New York: The Nautical Gazette, Inc.: 788, 801. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Swiggum, S; Kohli, M (28 February 2010). "Ship Descriptions – P–Q". The Ships List. Retrieved 8 May 2013.