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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 99308:  USS Henderson at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, on 6 January 1933.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1), 1917-1948.
Became USS Bountiful (AH-9) in 1944

USS Henderson, a 10,000-ton (displacement) troop transport built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, was commissioned in May 1917. In June she sailed from New York as part of the cruiser and transport force that carried the Allied Expeditionary Force to France. Returning in July 1917, she made eight more wartime voyages to France with troops and supplies for the Western Front. Following the Armistice in November 1918 she completed another eight transatlantic voyages bringing veterans home.

In late December 1919 Henderson shifted her operations to the Caribbean, where she became the support ship for troop rotations by Marine units in Cuba, Haiti, and other islands. In the early 1920s she extended her transportation of Marines and other U.S. service personnel to the Far East. This service was occasionally broken by ceremonial assignments, including carrying senior officials to observe the trials of aircraft bombing against battleships off the Virginia Capes in July 1921, taking Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby and members of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1881 to Japan in 1922, and transporting President Warren G. Harding to Alaska in July 1923. During the peacetime years, Henderson also participated in amphibious landing exercises.

After 1927 Henderson's operations focused primarily on the Pacific, where she transported men between the West Coast and the Pacific islands, the Philippines, and the China coast. Following the outbreak of war between the U.S. and Japan in December 1941, the ship was assigned duty transporting men and cargo between California and Hawaii. Ultimately she made over twenty such voyages. On her last voyage as a transport, between July and September 1943, she delivered nurses to Noumea and Seabees to the Solomons. USS Henderson was decommissioned in October 1943 and began conversion to a hospital ship. She returned to active service in March 1944 as Bountiful (AH-9), and retained that name and designation until she was sold for scrapping in early 1948.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1), which became USS Bountiful (AH-9) in 1944.

For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Ceremonial Activities;
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1) -- World War I Era On Board and Close Up Views.
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Post-World War I Transport Activities.
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Miscellaneous Views;
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1) -- Construction;
  • USS Bountiful (AH-9), formerly USS Henderson (AP-1).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 53505

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1)

    At the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 9 June 1917 preparing for her trial trip.
    The searchlights above the bridge were soon lowered. The boat crane aft has not yet been installed.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99380

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1)

    "Being serenaded on her third trip over with Nurses, Officers and Marines". Photographed circa 1917, as Henderson was departing the United States on her third wartime trip to Europe.
    The boat crane aft has not yet been installed.

    Collection of Arthur J. Rozett.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 58KB; 740 x 460 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99381

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1)

    Probably shown circa early 1918 before the boat crane was added to the main mast.

    Collection of Commander (Chaplain) Haines H. Lippincott, donated by his sister in 1973.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 430 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105753

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa the latter part of 1918, while the ship was wearing wartime "dazzle" camouflage.
    This view was published circa 1919 as one of ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Henderson.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 510 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 53506

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1)

    At the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 22 April 1918 after completing several transatlantic trooping voyages.
    A large boat crane has been added to her main mast and both masts have prominent tops. She has recently been painted in a pattern camouflage scheme. Three of her eight 5"/50 guns are visible.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105585

    USS Henderson
    (Transport # 1), at left,
    and
    USS Leviathan (ID # 1326), center

    Photographed circa May 1918, probably at Brest, France. They were members of a convoy escorted by USS Wakiva (SP-160), from which this photograph was presumably taken. Wakiva was lost in a collision on 22 May 1918.
    Note both ships' "dazzle" camouflage.

    Courtesy of James A. Turner, Jr., from the collection of Samuel A. Turner, Jr., who served in USS Wakiva (SP-160) during World War I.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 485 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99370

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    At the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 23 March 1921.
    Panoramic photograph by Crosby, 324 First Street, Portsmouth, Virginia.

    Collection of Lawrence E. Archambeault, Sr. Donated by his son, George R. Archambeault, September 1987.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 410 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 1031

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    Photographed in March 1922.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 570 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99412

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    In port during the 1920s or 1930s.

    Collection of Chief Boatswain Mate Ralph B. Turpin, donated by him in 1963.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 49KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 53503

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    Underway between the wars. Note the boat crane and the large nest of boats aft of the main superstructure.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99308

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    At Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, on 6 January 1933.
    Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station, Coco Solo. Note the open cargo hatch forward of the bridge.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99309

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    Aerial view of the ship alongside an unidentified pier during the 1920s or 1930s.
    Note the battleship-style crane at the after end of the superstructure for handling the ship's many large boats. The ship may be in the process of embarking or disembarking troops.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 68979

    USS Henderson
    (AP-1)

    Transiting the Panama Canal before World War II.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     


    USS Henderson is seen in the background of the following photograph of another subject:

    Photo #: NH 45239

    Towing Target No. 48


    Being launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 5 August 1918.
    The transport USS Henderson is in the background.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 590 pixels

     


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other view of USS Henderson (AP-1). The following list features this image:

    The image listed below is NOT in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 80-G-236560
    USS Henderson (AP-1) underway near shore, with hills in the background, circa 1942-1943. The ship is painted in wartime grey camouflage, possibly Measure 21, and location may be San Francisco Bay California, as the photo is credited to Naval Air Station, Moffett Field. The photo is mis-captioned as USS Harry Lee (AP-17), and the date given, 11 April 1944, is after Henderson was converted to a hospital ship.
    Starboard side aerial view, rather toward the stern.

    Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    The image listed in this box is NOT in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Ceremonial Activities;
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1) -- World War I Era On Board and Close Up Views.
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Post-World War I Transport Activities.
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1, later AP-1) -- Miscellaneous Views;
  • USS Henderson (Transport # 1) -- Construction;
  • USS Bountiful (AH-9), formerly USS Henderson (AP-1).


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 15 July 2004
    Coding updated 4 January 2008