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USS ''Siboney'' (ID-2999) was a ship transport for the United States Navy during World War I. She was the sister ship of but neither was part of a ship class. Launched as SS ''Oriente'', she was soon renamed after Siboney, Cuba, a landing site of United States forces during the Spanish–American War. After her navy service ended, she was SS ''Siboney'' for the Ward Line and American Export Lines. During World War II she served the U.S. Army as transport USAT ''Siboney'' and as hospital ship USAHS ''Charles A. Stafford''. As a transport during World War I, ''Siboney'' made 17 transatlantic voyages for the navy carrying troops to and from Europe, and had the shortest average in-port turnaround time of all navy transports. During her maiden voyage, her steering gear malfunctioned which resulted in a collision between two other troopships in the convoy. After her World War I service ended, ''Siboney'' was returned to the Ward Line and placed in New York–Cuba–Spain transatlantic service; the liner ran aground at Vigo, Spain in September 1920. Despite considerable damage, she was repaired and placed back in service. In late 1921, ''Siboney'' was switched to New York–Cuba–Mexico routes, which were a popular and inexpensive way for Americans to escape Prohibition. In late 1940, she was chartered to American Export Lines to return Americans fleeing Europe at the outset of World War II, making seven roundtrips from Jersey City, New Jersey, to Lisbon. During World War II, ''Siboney'' was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and assigned to the War Department as a U.S. Army transport. She made several transatlantic trips and called at ports in Africa, the Middle East, Canada, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom. During a 1944 overhaul, the ship was selected for conversion to a hospital ship. Renamed USAHS ''Charles A. Stafford'' after a U.S. Army doctor killed in action in Australia, the ship served in both the European and the Pacific Theatres. After the end of her army service, the ship was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in February 1948, and sold for scrapping in 1957. ==World War I naval service== SS ''Oriente'' was a combination cargo and passenger vessel built by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, for the Ward Line. In mid-1917 the United States Shipping Board (USSB) commandeered and received title to all private shipbuilding projects in progress, including the still-incomplete ''Oriente'' and her sister ship ''Orizaba''. Plans for both ships were modified for troop carrying duties.〔Crowell and Wilson, p. 321.〕 ''Oriente'' was launched on 15 August 1917, renamed ''Siboney'' on 28 February 1918, delivered to the navy on 8 April, and commissioned the same day, Commander A.T. Graham in command. ''Siboney'' sailed from Philadelphia on 16 April as a unit of the Cruiser and Transport Force, and arrived at Newport News two days later to embark her first contingent of troops. She departed Hampton Roads on 23 April and joined her first convoy the following day. On 25 April, her rudder jammed; and, in the ensuing confusion, transports and collided and had to return to New York. On 4 May, the convoy was joined by the war zone escort of eight destroyers and, on 6 May, ''Siboney'' arrived at Brest. Debarking her troops, she sailed the following day and arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 15 May.〔 ''Siboney'' embarked her second contingent of troops at Lambert's Point, Virginia, on 25 May and sailed the following day. The New York section of the convoy joined two days later and the ships entered the war zone on 6 June. In French waters, they were met by , a squadron of minesweepers, an American dirigible, and two French hydroplanes. ''Siboney'' arrived in Bordeaux on 8 June and departed the following day but remained anchored in the mouth of the Gironde until 13 June, awaiting the tanker ''Woonsocket''. On 15 June, the convoy passed six empty lifeboats from the torpedoed transport . ''Siboney'' entered the American war zone on 20 June, and the next day rescued survivors of the British vessel, , which had been torpedoed three days previously. The transport arrived at New York on 22 June and anchored in the North River.〔 ''Siboney'' sailed for France on 30 June; after delivering her troops at Brest on 12 July, she returned to New York on 25 July. She sailed again on 31 July. Before arriving at Brest on 12 August, she had to maneuver several times to evade possible submarine contacts. She arrived at New York on 22 August and was given a two-week repair period.〔 On 4 September, ''Siboney'' sailed from New York on her fifth crossing and arrived at Saint-Nazaire nine days later. On 15 September, she embarked a number of wounded troops and left Saint-Nazaire the same day, but, due to heavy submarine activity, swung at anchor for several days before her convoy sailed. She arrived on 29 September at New York. On her sixth eastward crossing, between 6 and 15 October, an influenza epidemic broke out among the troops, killing a number of soldiers. Sailing from Brest on 16 October, the transport returned to New York on 24 October.〔 ''Siboney'' had already embarked troops for her next voyage when, on 3 November, she was ordered to disembark them. She sailed the following day with an army brigadier general and his staff, and a naval draft of 500 men. She arrived at Saint-Nazaire on the 12 November, shortly after the announcement of the Armistice, and was met by a cheering crowd.〔 ''Siboney'' then began her peacetime mission of returning American veterans from Europe to the United States. After embarking 513 wounded men at Saint-Nazaire, she moved to Brest on the 15th and took on 600 more passengers. She sailed the same day under escort and reached New York on 24 November. During the next ten months, ''Siboney'' made ten more round trips between the United States and France, returning over 3,000 troops per trip when fully loaded.〔 On one such return trip in August 1919, ''Siboney'' carried Admiral Henry T. Mayo and Congressman Thomas S. Butler home from France. ''Siboney'' returned to New York on 2 September at the conclusion of her 17th trip, having traveled over and transported approximately 55,000 military passengers to and from French ports.〔 According to the Statistical Department of the U.S. Navy, ''Siboney'' had the shortest average in-port turnaround time out of 37 U.S. Navy transports used during World War I. The ship completed 17 round trips and had an average turn-around time of just under 30 days per trip, almost ten days shorter than the average of 39.8 days. On 10 September at Hoboken, ''Siboney'' was decommissioned and turned over to the War Department, who returned the ship to the Ward Line, her original owners.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Siboney (ID-2999)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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