USS Republic

USAT Republic at Hunters Point, post-World War II
History
United States
Name	USS Republic (AP-33)
Namesake	Serbia, Ulysses S. Grant, James Buchanan
Owner	International Mercantile Marine Co. Hamburg America Line U.S. Navy U.S. Army U.S. Shipping Board United States Lines
Builder	Harland and Wolff, United Kingdom
Yard number	354
Launched	19 February 1903
Christened	SS Servian
Completed	1903
Acquired	Seized from Germany, 6 April 1917
Maiden voyage	14 September 1907, Hamburg–Boulogne-sur-Mer–Southampton–New York
In service	Inactive: 1903 – 1907 Commercial: 1907 – Aug 1914 Inactive: Aug 1914 – Apr 1917 Navy: 2 Aug 1917 – Oct 1919 Army: 6 Oct 1919 – Mar 1921 Inactive: Mar 1921 – 1923 Commercial: 1924 – 1931 Army: 1931 – Jul 1941 Navy: 22 Jul 1941 – 27 Jan 1945 Army: Feb 1946 – May 1949
Renamed	SS President Grant (1907) USS President Grant (ID-3014) (1917) USAT Republic (1919) USS President Buchanan (1921) USS Republic (AP-33) (1941) USAHS/USAT Republic (1945)
Stricken	From the Navy: 2 February 1945
Fate	Sold for scrap, 11 March 1952
General characteristics
Displacement	33,000 long tons (33,530 t)
Length	599 ft (183 m)
Beam	68 ft 2 in (20.78 m)
Draft	34 ft (10 m)
Propulsion	2 × quadruple-expansion engines 2 × screws
Speed	14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph)
Complement	712
Armament	Jul – Aug 1941 1 x 5"/51 caliber surface gun 4 × 3"/23 caliber antiaircraft gun 2 × 1-pounder guns 2 × .30 cal. Lewis machine guns October 1941 : 1 x 5"/51 caliber surface gun 4 × 3"/50 caliber antiaircraft gun 12 x 20 mm guns

USS Republic (AP-33) was a troop transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. In World War I she served with the Navy as USS President Grant (ID-3014) before being turned over to the Army and named Republic. The ship was renamed the President Buchanan in 1921 before reverting to Republic in 1924.

Originally christened as the SS Servian, she was built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff, Ltd. of Belfast for the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line, a subsidiary of International Mercantile Marine Co. spearheaded by J.P. Morgan. After plans for a North Atlantic service collapsed, she spent four years at anchor in the Musgrave Channel in Belfast.

After being purchased by the Hamburg-American Packet Steamship Company (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft or HAPAG) in 1907, it was renamed the SS President Grant, the third ship named for Ulysses S. Grant. In August 1914, after seven years of trans-Atlantic passenger service, she took refuge at New York City when the outbreak of World War I made the high seas unsafe for German merchant ships. She was interned at Hoboken, New Jersey and remained inactive for nearly three years until the United States entered the war in April 1917. The ship was seized when the United States officially declared war against Germany.