General
Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26) was built in 1921 and began transatlantic service for the United States Lines in 1922, but soon afterward in May was re-named President Pierce. In August 1922 the ship was re-named President Roosevelt, a name she carried during her years of passenger service.
1940
Requisitioned by the War Department in October, she was re-named Joseph T. Dickman and converted to a troopship by Atlantic Basin Iron Works of Brooklyn.
1941
The ship was then transferred to the Navy on 27 May and further converted to Navy use at New York Navy Yard. She was commissioned at the Navy Yard on 10 June. The new transport got underway on 26 June for Hampton Roads and until August she took part in amphibious training exercises off Onslow Beach, NC. After these landings, Joseph T. Dickman returned to New York on 14 August. She then moved to Boston for further conversion and remained there until 1 October. Stores were loaded at Norfolk in October, after which the transport proceeded to Halifax to load British troops. With five other troop ships she departed 10 November to India. Joseph T. Dickman arrived at Bombay via Trinidad and Capetown on 27 December and debarked troops.
1942
Departing India on 10 January, she retraced her steps to New York, arriving 28 February for the installation of new boats and lowering equipment. After leaving the yard in April, the ship underwent tests in Hampton Roads before departing 11 May for transport duties in the Caribbean. She stopped at San Juan and Bermuda to debark troops before returning to Norfolk on 27 May. Joseph T. Dickman carried further reinforcements to Caribbean bases in June and spent July on amphibious exercises in Chesapeake Bay. Training and additional conversion to increase her boat capacity continued into October, when the ship prepared for Operation "Torch" - the invasion of North Africa.
As part of the Western Naval Task Force, Joseph T. Dickman got underway from Norfolk on 24 October to take part in the first amphibious invasion ever launched across an entire ocean. Arriving in the transport area of Fedhala early on 8 November, she began the debarkation. She remained off shore until German submarine attacks forced her to sea on 12 November. As the successful invasion was consolidated, however, Joseph T. Dickman entered Casablanca harbor 15 November and completed unloading. Two days later she was underway for Norfolk, arriving 30 November. After embarking troops and taking on cargo, Joseph T. Dickman departed 27 December for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She stopped at Noumea and Brisbane before sailing for Norfolk again, where she arrived 10 March 1943. During this voyage, on 1 February 1943, the ship was reclassified APA-13.
1943
The veteran troopship departed 10 May for North Africa in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. She arrived at Mers el Kebir on 23 May and, after landing rehearsals, got underway with the invasion fleet from Algiers on 6 July. She arrived off the beaches on 10 July and began the long process of debarkation. Next day she suffered minor damage fighting off German bombing attacks, damaging at least three of the attackers with her gunfire. With the invasion quickly successful, the ship was underway for Algiers on 12 July for more exercises.
The next major amphibious operation in the campaign to regain Italy was slated for Salerno; and, after training, Joseph T. Dickman arrived off the beaches on 9 September. Rockets from an LCS attached to the ship helped clear the way for the first wave of boats, and, after receiving near misses from shore batteries, the transport debarked her troops and returned to Mers el Kebir. As the battle to consolidate the beachhead began, Joseph T. Dickman returned with reinforcements to Salerno on 6 October. She made two other follow-up voyages from Africa to Italy, the final one with over 1,000 French troops. The ship sailed on 30 November for Norfolk by way of Scotland.
1944
Upon her arrival in Norfolk on 1 January, the ship underwent battle repairs; and, after embarking troops, sailed on 11 February for Glasgow. During the next few months, the ship was engaged in intensive training for the giant Normandy invasion, scheduled for June. Sailing from England on 5 June, she arrived off Utah Beach early the next day and landed her troops without mishap. On the afternoon of D-day, she steamed to Portland with casualties, later making a shuttle voyage to the beaches on 14 June as troops moved inland to liberate France.
Upon arriving at Mers el Kebir on 10 July, Joseph T. Dickman began preparations for another landing, this time in southern France. After exacting training operations, she sailed from Sicily on 13 August, arriving off the Delta Force beaches next day to debark her troops. After a smooth and skillful unloading, she steamed to Naples, arriving on 17 August. In the weeks that followed, Joseph T. Dickman made five follow-up voyages to southern France from various Mediterranean staging points as the Allies pressed northward. The veteran ship sailed from Mers el Kebir on 25 October for the United States, arriving at Boston on 8 November.
1945
After taking part in every major amphibious operation in the European-African theater, the ship now turned her attention to the Pacific. She sailed on 24 January with troops for Guadalcanal, arriving via Espiritu Santo on 12 February. There she began training operations for the invasion of Okinawa. From 21-27 March the transports made final preparations at Ulithi, sailing the latter date for the last and greatest of the Pacific invasions. The troops stormed ashore on 1 April, but the transport remained off the beaches helping to ward off air attacks while unloading cargo until 9 April. She then sailed to Saipan and continued to Pearl Harbor, where she anchored on 25 April. Joseph T. Dickman arrived at San Francisco with veterans on 30 May.
After two troop voyages to Pearl Harbor, the ship remained at the Navy Yard there for conversion to a casualty evacuation ship for the projected invasion of Japan. Emerging on 10 August, she was en route to San Francisco when the fighting ended on 14 August. Joseph T. Dickman then sailed for the Philippines on 24 August; and, upon arrival in Manila on 17 September, took on American and Allied soldiers who had been prisoners of the Japanese for transport to the United States. Ironically, four British enlisted men came on board, who after 3 years in a prison camp were returning to the United States on the same ship which had carried them from Halifax to Bombay in 1941. The ship reached San Francisco on 16 October.
Assigned to Operation "Magic-Carpet," Joseph T. Dickman made a voyage to Pearl Harbor, returning to Seattle on 2 December 1945.
1946
She moved from Seattle to San Francisco on 13 January. The ship steamed to Suisun Bay, was then decommissioned on 7 March, and was returned to the Maritime Commission. She was scrapped in 1948.
These specifications and ship histories are adapted from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (US Naval Historical Center) and from various other sources. These summaries may not reflect the most recent information concerning the ships' status or operations. If you find an error or discrepancy, please email me at troopships@pier90.org or fill out our online crossing submission form.
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