This Military Service Page was created/owned by
John J. Mertz-Family
to remember
Mertz, John, EM2.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Ft. Dodge
Last Address SHAKOPEE, MN
Date of Passing Jul 03, 2015
Location of Interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery (VA) - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hull number AP-114 Specifications: Displacement 11,450 t.(lt), 20,175 t.(fl) Length 622' 7" Beam 75' 6" Draft 25' 6" Speed 20.6 kts (trial) Complement
Officers 33
Enlisted 419 Troop Accommodations
Officers 393
Enlisted 4,896 Largest Boom Capacity 10 t. Cargo Capacity 2,700 DWT
non-refrigerated 145,680 Cu ft.
refrigerated 33,631 Cu ft. WWII Armament
four single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
four quad 1.1" AA gun mounts (replaced by four quad 40mm AA gun mounts)
twenty single 20mm AA gun mounts Fuel Capacities
NSFO 19,600 Bbls
Diesel 410 Bbls Propulsion
two De Laval steam turbines
four Foster-Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
double De Laval Main Reduction Gears
four turbo-drive 400Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ships Service Generators
twin propellers, 17,000shp
The USS Mitchell AP 114 departed San Francisco, California 18 June 1951 beginning a round world cruise (Order of Magellan) accumulating a total of 34,311 sea miles. The Mitchell visited the following ports during this trip:
Haiphong, F-IndoChina (Vietnam) 6 September 1951 (Gulf of Tonkin)
Pusan, Korea 11 September 1951
Kobe, Japan 15 September 1951
San Francisco, Calif 26 September 1951
General William Mitchell continued to transport men and material from West Coast ports to Japan and Korea, supporting the United Nations forces in the latter country.
~ Courtesy Wikipedia
Following World War II USS William Mitchell was assigned to Occupation and China service for the following periods:
Navy Occupation Service Medal
China Service Medal (extended)
10 to 15 September 1946
16 to 30 September 1946
1 to 2 October 1946
2 to 9 September 1947
24 August to 1 September 1947
29 March to 2 April 1948
17 to 20 August 1948
9 to 16 August 1948
10 to 14 November 1948
31 October to 7 November 1948
7 March 1953
27 February 1954
12 October 1956
Assigned to MSTS in 1950 redesignated USS William Mitchell (T-AP-114)
During the Korean War USS General William Mitchell participated in the following campaigns:
Korean War Campaigns
Campaign and Dates
Campaign and Dates
North Korean Aggression,
16 to 17 August 1950
First UN Counter Offensive,
28 February to 1 March 1951
Communist China Aggression,
21 November to 25 December 1950
As part of the "Magic Carpet" fleet, this busy transport carried bluejackets from San Francisco to the Philippines, returning servicemen from Hollandia to Seattle, and troops from the Philippines and Guam to San Francisco, through the spring of 1946. Subsequently, from April 1946 until 1949 General Mitchell sailed from West Coast ports and shuttled troops and supplies to and from Japan, China, Guam, and Hawaii. She underwent alterations for peacetime service at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in March 1947 and then returned to San Francisco and her transpacific schedule.
In October 1949 she was transferred to MSTS and in 1950 continued her West Coast-Orient travels. In that year, too, two round trip voyages from New Orleans and New York were made to Bremerhaven to rotate and supply troops in Europe. She made an around-the-world cruise out of New York in the summer of 1951, visiting Germany, North Africa, Ceylon, Indochina, Korea, and Japan before mooring at San Francisco 26 September 1951.
~Courtesy history.navy.mil
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=c49280a91b79826dbff47dc198f1bbf0 "Honorable Discharge Emblem (WWII)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=4cabb16c4bb63567ecc81f2bec05c4b6 "Did the Ditch (Suez Canal)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=0cb147133885c62667d8969c50b66659 "Order of the Ditch (Panama Canal)")
