View source for SS James Longstreet

{{Short description|United States  Liberty ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SS James Longstreet on October 7, 1943.jpg
|Ship caption=  SS ''James Longstreet'' before her last and final voyage
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=''James Longstreet''
|Ship namesake=[[James Longstreet]]
|Ship operator=[[International Freighting Corporation]]
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder=Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation, [[Houston, Texas]]
|Ship yard number=18<ref>Beyle, p.12</ref>
|Ship laid down=24 August 1942<ref>Beyle, p.16</ref>
|Ship launched=31 October 1942<ref>Beyle, p.1</ref>
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=
|Ship original cost= $1,833,400<ref>Beyle, p.11</ref>
|Ship out of service= Damaged by grounding in 1943 and written off
|Ship identification=*[[Code letters]] KHKT<ref>Beyle, p.15</ref>
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Tango}}
|Ship fate=*Acquired by the Navy in 1944
*Used as a target until 1970
*Hulk sunk in 1996
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{Liberty ship class}}
|Ship tonnage=7,000 tons [[Deadweight tonnage|deadweight]]
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{Liberty ship length}}
|Ship beam={{Liberty ship beam}}
|Ship draft={{Liberty ship draft}}
|Ship propulsion={{Liberty ship propulsion}}
|Ship speed={{Liberty ship speed}}
|Ship capacity={{Liberty ship cargo capacity}}
|Ship complement={{Liberty ship complement}}
|Ship armament={{Liberty ship armament}}
}}
|}
'''SS ''James Longstreet''''' (Hull Number '''112''') was a [[Liberty ship]] built in the United States during [[World War II]]. Named after the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] general [[James Longstreet]], she entered service in 1942, but was wrecked in a storm on 26 October 1943 and was subsequently used as a [[target ship|target hulk]] by the [[United States Navy]].

==Construction history==
Named after [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] general [[James Longstreet]]<ref name="CCTimes">{{cite web|url=http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20141010/NEWS/410100306|title=5 things to know about rusted target ship in Cape Cod Bay|date=10 October 2014|work=[[Cape Cod Times]]|access-date=2017-12-12|location=Hyannis, MA}}</ref> and built at a cost of $1,833,400 [[USD]], ''James Longstreet'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] in October 1942, in [[Houston, Texas]],<ref name="Barb">Barbo 2008, p.90</ref> by the [[Houston Shipbuilding Corp.]]<ref name="EEA">{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/czm/buar/shipwrecks/boats/james-longstreet.html|title=James Longstreet|publisher=Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs|access-date=2017-12-12|location=Boston, MA}}</ref>

==Wartime history==
''James Longstreet'' was operated by the [[International Freighting Corporation]]. After loading cargo ''James Longstreet'' sailed independently on 27 November 1942 (from Houston, Texas via New Orleans, Yucatán Straits, Panama<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Zielinski|first=Leon|date=1942–1943|orig-year=1942|title=Navy Armed Guard Cox's log - 1942-1943|journal=Personal Handwritten Log by Navy Gun Crew Member.|location=On board the SS James Longstreet}}</ref>) to [[Australia]], [[India]], and [[Ceylon]].<ref>Beyle, p.17</ref>   Her crew learned in Panama on 10 December 1942 that the ship would not be in a convoy and would be making the 11000 mile trek alone to Fremantle, routing 1000 miles off the standard shipping lanes.<ref name=":0" /> She returned through the [[Panama Canal]] on 14 May 1943.  She joined convoy ZG 31 arriving at [[Guantánamo]] on 18 May, and leaving the following day with convoy GK 734 to reach [[Key West]] on 22 May. After loading a general cargo, she joined [[HX convoys|convoy HX 245]] leaving [[New York City]] on 23 June 1943 to reach [[Liverpool]] on 7 July. She returned in [[ballast]] with [[ON convoys|convoy ONS 14]] leaving Liverpool on 26 July 1943 to reach [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] on 9 August, where she transferred to [[BX convoys|convoy XB 68]] reaching the [[Cape Cod Canal]] on 11 August. After loading a general cargo including some explosives, she joined [[BX convoys|convoy BX 72]] leaving [[Boston]] on 5 September 1943 to reach Halifax on 7 September, where she joined convoy HX 256 reaching Liverpool on 21 September. She joined convoy WP 405 at [[Milford Haven]] on 23 September 1943 to reach [[Portsmouth]] on 25 September, where she offloaded her cargo. The return voyage in ballast left Portsmouth on 7 October 1943 with convoy PW 411 reaching Milford Haven on 9 October. She then joined [[ON convoys|convoy ON 206]] leaving Liverpool on 11 October 1943.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html |title=Arnold Hague Convoy Database |website=Convoy Web |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref> Before reaching port, she collided with the British ship ''West Point'',<ref name="Society">{{cite web|url=http://www.longstreetsociety.org/liberty-ship.html|title=The Liberty Ship The James Longstreet|publisher=The Longstreet Society|access-date=2017-12-12|location=Gainesville, GA}}</ref> on 26 October<ref name=Times281043>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Violent Storm Off U.S. Coast |date=28 October 1943 |page=3 |issue=49688 |column=D }}</ref> and ran aground in a gale off of [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey]]. She was refloated on 23 November, and towed to New York City where she was declared a total loss.<ref name="EEA"/>

==Target history==
Instead of being scrapped, she was acquired by the [[US Navy]] in June 1944 and, after having her machinery removed,<ref name="Society"/> she was used as a target ship for early [[Air-to-surface missile|air to surface guided missile]]s, including the [[Pelican (bomb)|Pelican]]<ref>Friedman 1982, p.202.</ref> and [[ASM-N-2 Bat]] bombs. These tests were conducted off New York by planes flying from [[Floyd Bennett Field]]. A November 1944 gale broke ''James Longstreet'' loose from her mooring location. She was discovered drifting on 4 December 1944, and was towed to [[Naval Station Norfolk]] on 8 December.  After being temporarily moored near [[Wolf Trap Light]] she resumed work as a bombing target in [[Pamlico Sound]];<ref>Beyle, p.20</ref> but the sound was too shallow, and she once ran aground under tow to and from the target areas.

''James Longstreet'' was then assigned as a target for Project Dove, where [[Polaroid Corporation]] was developing a heat-seeking bomb for the United States Navy. Earlier testing had been done using targets on [[Monomoy Island Gunnery Range]] south of [[Cape Cod]], but the Navy wanted the system tested on a target more similar to the ships it was intended to hit. ''James Longstreet'' was towed from Chesapeake Bay on 26 February 1945, and reached Boston on 5 March. After being outfitted for her new role,<ref name=nwb>Beyle, p.21</ref> she was scuttled on New Found Shoal<ref name="Society"/> in [[Cape Cod Bay]]<ref name="Barb"/> at 09:46 25 April 1945 with most of the hull above water<ref name=nwb/> as a target for missiles with the Polaroid guidance system, before then being used for live ammunition target practice by Naval jets from nearby [[South Weymouth Naval Air Station]] and the Air Force from nearby [[Otis Air Force Base]] until 1970.<ref name="Society"/> She was then left derelict, becoming one of the most-photographed objects in the Bay,<ref name="CCTimes"/> until April 1996, when waves submerged her in deeper water during a snowstorm.<ref name="Society"/>

The remains of ''James Longstreet'', also referred to as "[https://www.coastalneighborhoods.com/blog/cape-cod-bay-target-ship.html the target ship]", lie approximately {{convert|3.5|nmi|mi km}} off [[Eastham, Massachusetts]] in {{convert|20|to|25|ft|m}} of water.<ref name="Barb"/> The site is off limits to divers due to unexploded ordnance, but the remains of the ship can be observed above the water during extreme low tides.<ref name="CCTimes"/>

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Barbo|first=Theresa M.|title=Cape Cod Bay: A History of Salt & Sea|year=2008|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucesterchire|isbn=978-1-5962-9502-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Beyle|first=Noel W.|title=The Target Ship in Cape Cod Bay|year=1992|publisher=The First Encounter Press|location=Orleans, Massachusetts|isbn=0-912609-15-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|author-link=Norman Friedman|title=U.S. Naval Weapons: every gun, missile, mine, and torpedo used by the U.S. Navy from 1883 to the present day|year=1982|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=978-0-87021-735-7}}
{{refend}}

{{coord|41|49|53.27|N|70|02|39.28|W|display=title}}

{{October 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:James Longstreet}}
[[Category:Liberty ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Houston]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1943]]