I am doing some research on a troop convoy that left Hampton Roads on 8 February, 1943 (Convoy UGF-5) There were 20 merchant ships and 13 escorts. 14 of the ships were troop carriers, several carrying 5000 men each. I would guess the convoy in total carried 50,000 troops. The guy's records show he left Staten Island on the 8th of Sept and from there he apparently was loaded on a ship. I tried to find a barricks or some facility on Staten Island where 50,000 men and all their gear could be held until loading into the ships but could find none. The logistics of handling so many men plus cargo must have been a nightmare. Also the ships in the convoy left Hampton Roads in Virginia, a fair distance from Stanten Island NY. Were they loaded at Stanten Island and formed a convoy at Hampton Roads? Were they farried down to the ships? How on earth was all this handled? Thanks for any help.
To get the ball rolling... Camp Patrick Henry was the staging camp for POE Hampton Roads. And Camp Kilmer, NJ and Camp Shanks, NY for POE NYC. If he did not process through these, would he be a VIP? Something is odd about leaving Staten Island on 8 Sep 1942 and a convoy departing Hampton Roads on 8 Feb 1943. That's enough time to complete basic and infantry (or most other MOS) training. Are you sure there was nothing in between?
Have you seen this page: Arnold Hague convoy database - UGF convoys Since it names many if not all the cargo ships you can find more info on them with further searches I expect. This page lists 10 troop ships and 36,000 troops in UGF-5 Global Logistics and Strategy - Richard M. Leighton, Robert W. Coakley - Google Books This one lists what ships were carrying who: 1943 Troop Ship Crossings - January to June Interesting that the return trip GUF-5 ended up in New Yourk accoring to: USS Davison Other pages of interest might be: DetailedHistory
Earthican--thank you much for your reply. The dates are my typo-sorry. His personnel file shows he was at Staten Island on the 8th of Feb, 1943. Arnold Hauge convoy database shows UGF 5 leaving Hampton Roads on the same date for Casablanca where his records (and Hauge) show the convoy arrived on 19 Feb 1943. If his records are correct, he would have processed through either Camp Kilmore or Camp Shank. I'm confused why they processed him through in NY when the convoy was assembled at Hampton Roads . Why not process them at Camp Patrick Henry? Thanks for the names of the process points--I couldn't find any mention of any camps.
LWD, I did get information from Hague's database, and checked out "1943 troop crossing". The only ship that was on the list from UGF 5 was the Sloterdijk but it didn't list his unit (67th Armored Regiment). It would be a fantastic site if it were more complete. I read somewhere that the Army destroyed all the troop and convoy information in 1950--it didn't give a reason why. I wonder if Hague could be wrong about UGF 5 leaving Hampton Roads instead if NY since GUF 5 returned to NY- that would sure solve the mystery of why the records show he was at Staten Island. I notice his information on UGF5 states there was 20 merchant and 13 escorts--then stated " 43 ships total" , so mistakes were made. I haven't checked your other suggested sites yet but will shortly. Thanks for the suggestions.
I looked up the 67th AR in Stanton, it seems this unit got a bit chopped up, with elements in the TORCH landings. According to Stanton, the rest of the unit (or the main part of the unit) staged at Fort Dix NJ and shipped out POE NYC 11 December 1942. Why Fort Dix? maybe Shanks and Kilmer had not been set-up yet?
I read carefully through the records. He had taken basic at Ft. Knox KY and gone to the Armored Forces training facility at the newly compleated Camp Cambell KY, then sent to Staten Island NY for shipment overseas on Feb. 8th 1943. He arrived Casablanca on Feb 19, 1943 and was assigned to the 2nd Replacement Depot from Feb 19 until March 5th when he was assigned to the 67th AR. So he was not assigned to a unit until he was in North Africa. As a replacement, it will be difficult to learn what ship he was on. Was just wondering why his records show he was sent to NY and left Hampton Roads-- and if that is what really happend, what's the lodgic? Could be there was so many in this convoy they couldn't all stage at Camp Patrick Henry. Anyway, guess it's now that important. I know he left on Feb 8th and arrived N.Africa on the 19th aboard one of the troop ships in Convoy UGF 5. Thanks again for the effort. Dave
It seems most likely he boarded a ship in NYC and that ship sailed to join the Hampton Road convoy, somewhere. That might explain the discrepancy in the number of ships in the convoy. It would take some reading into the global logistics of WWII see how these things worked. One day I might get to those volumes of the official history.
