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USS Henderson (AP-1)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Henderson (AP-1)

USS Henderson (Troop Transport No. 1) was laid down on 19 June 1915, at the Philadelphia [Pa.] Navy Yard. Launched on 17 June 1916 and sponsored by Miss Genevieve W. Taylor, great-granddaughter of Brig. Gen. Henderson, Henderson was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 25 May 1917, Cmdr. George W. Steele, Jr. in command.

Built expressly as a troop transport for the Marine Corps, USS Henderson conducted her shakedown en route from Philadelphia, with 100 yard workmen from the yard on board and stood into New York on 12 June 1917. Upon her arrival, she received orders to be one of the transports in the first convoy carrying the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) to France. While enroute back to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, she touched at Puerto Plata (2 July), and reached the yard on the 6th, to undergo an extended repair period which lasted through the end of 1920. During her time in the yard, on 17 July 1920, USS Henderson was re-designated (AP-1) as part of a Navy-wide administrative re-organization.

Clearing the yard on 5 January 1921, USS Henderson (AP-1) steamed southward to resume her duties in the Caribbean. En route she stood into the Norfolk Navy Yard, Hampton Roads, Va. (6-15 January), and touched at Charleston (17 January), before putting in to Port-au-Prince on the 21st. USS Henderson (AP-1) then set a course for San Diego, Calif., and arrived on 24 October 1921. After departing on the 27th, she spent the next five weeks cruising the U.S. Pacific coast making visits en route. These included San Pedro, Calif. (27-31 October and 30 November-2 December); San Francisco, Calif. (1 November and 29 November); Mare Island, Calif. (1 November-10 November and 23-28 November), and Bremerton, Wash. (13-19 November). Having returned to San Diego, on 2 December, USS Henderson (AP-1) departed two days later bound for a return to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal. Arriving at the Canal Zone on 14 December, she transited to Cristóbal, C.Z., on the Atlantic coast, on the 15th, and then departed that same day for Port-au-Prince, en route to Hampton Roads. 

USS Henderson (AP-1) was underway again on 1 May 1923; she steamed southward for a return to the Caribbean. En route, she visited Port Royal, S.C. (3-4 May) and embarked marines then moved on to Guantanamo, reaching on the 7th. From Cuba, she moved to Hispaniola, with multiple port visits between 8-13 May, before heading to San Juan (14 May) and St. Thomas (14-15 May). Getting under way for the first time in the new year, USS Henderson (AP-1) departed the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 18 February 1927, and steamed to Newport, arriving the next day. Remaining overnight, she departed the next day and steamed to Piney Point, and then on to Quantico on the 22nd. USS Henderson (AP-1) steamed between the Virginia capes, bound for the Caribbean, on 9 September 1933. Arriving at Port-au-Prince, on 13 September, she departed two days later bound for the Canal Zone. Reaching Cristóbal, on 18 September, she transited the Panama Canal to Balboa, the next day and then after a two-day stay, departed bound for San Diego via Bahia Honda (22 September).

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941, USS Henderson (AP-1) was at sea, bound from the Hawaiian Territory to San Francisco. Arriving on 11 December, she entered Mare Island, and underwent a brief overhaul. On 27 December, she departed on the first of a series of transits between California ports and Pearl Harbor, over 20 in all. USS Henderson (AP-1) moved across San Francisco Bay to the Naval Supply Depot at Oakland, Calif., where she lay until 13 October 1943, when she was decommissioned.

For a complete history of USS Henderson (AP-1) please see its DANFS page.