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Description of  U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II

0870217666 pdf This is the definitive reference to the ships operated by the U.S. Army during the Second World War. In tonnage the Army actually operated a fleet larger than the U.S. Navy, though almost all were non-combat vessels. The book is divided into major categories such as large ocean going transports, tugs, mine craft, right down to the very mixed bag of "launches and small craft" and barges. Tables deal with individual ships, though few are mentioned in the main text introductions to those tables. There is a ship name index for craft that were named. Most below the larger vessels were only numbered. It is quite common, even among people that should know better, to term almost every U.S. vessel "USS" that is properly used only for ships of the U.S. Navy while in commission. One will find here the large vessels properly designated U. S. Army Transport (U.S.A.T.) and the smaller, numbered vessels properly designated "U.S. Army (alpha designation) xxx (number designation) as in U.S.Army FS-391 that, after transfer to Navy in 1948 became the USS HEWELL (AKL-14) and is best known as the outdoor set of the film MISTER ROBERTS a story based on a book based on life aboard an Army ship.