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ARMY HOSPITAL SHIP LOUIS A. MILNE |
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The Louis A. Milne was the former Lewis Luckenbach, a freighter which was built in 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts. The Luckenbach had been in operation for twenty-five years before being selected for use as an Army Hospital Ship. Conversion was accomplished at Boston, Massachusetts, between 16 May 1944 and 18 March 1945 by the Bethlehem Steel Company. The ship was renamed Louis A. Milne in honor of Colonel Louis A. Milne, who was port surgeon at the New York Port of Embarkation from 1937 to the time of his death in 1943. Following commissioning, the Louis A. Milne left Boston on 19 March 1945 and went to Milfordhaven, Wales, from where she returned to Charleston, South Carolina. The Milne was in the Atlantic when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died on 12 April 1945. The German High Command signed the final documents of surrender on 8 May 1945. After a voyage to Avonmouth in May and one to Milfordhaven and Southampton, the ship sailed in Mid-July for Cherbourg, France, and from there returned to New York in August. The Louis A. Milne was next ordered to the Pacific, via the Panama Canal, and reached Honolulu in early September. World War II ended on 2 September 1945 with the formal surrender of Japan aboard the US battleship Missouri. After repairs at Pearl Harbor, the Milne proceeded to Manila, returning to Los Angeles in November, 1945. The Milne then went to Anchorage, Alaska, and from there to Honolulu, thence to Manila (arriving in January, 1946), and via Hawaii to San Francisco in early March. At San Francisco, the vessel underwent extensive voyage repairs by General Engineering and Drydock Company from March until 10 May 1946.
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The Louis A. Milne was the largest hospital ship in the world. She tipped the scales at 10,000 tons and was 527 feet in length. She had 63 outside wards equipped with 966 beds with 300 more in reserve if needed. She was the twenty-second Army hospital ship and was built at a cost of over $7,000,000. She was practically fireproof. The Milne had a complement of 21 Medical Officers, 43 nurses, 3 Red Cross workers, 2 Chaplains, 192 Army medical corpsmen and 153 merchant marine officers and men. She was named in memory of Colonel Louis A. Milne. The Colonel was responsible for the fleet of US hospital ships and worked long and vigorously to achieve his ideas and plans. Most of the Milne's personnel, both military and marine had period of service overseas in both theaters of war ranging from six months to three years. The Milne's food stores included 135,300 pounds of meat and poultry. 40,000 gallons of fresh water could be distilled from salt water daily.
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Captain John W. Kirchner, the civilian Master of the Milne, graduated in 1910 from the New York Nautical School. His first command was the SS Nevadan. In 1917, he served as Lieutenant Commander aboard the USS President Lincoln. He later became navigating officer and executive of the USS Zeelandie until the end of World War I. In 1919, he was made a superintendent for the United American Line. While with this company he commanded the SS Resolute, one of the largest passenger ships afloat. From 1925 through 1930, he was superintendent of the Steamship Terminal Operators in New York. When World War II broke out, Captain Kirchner was associated with the Panama Steamship Line, which was taken over by the ATS for transport work. In 1942, he was given command of the USAHS Acadia which was the first US Army hospital ship. The Acadia took part in the North African, Sicilian and the Italian invasions. He remained in command until 1944, when he assumed the command of the Lewis Luckenbach, which was in the process of being converted to the USAHS Louis A. Milne. His command of the Milne, the queen of the hospital ship flotilla, reflected the confidence of the ATS in Captain Kirchner's long nautical experience as master of some of the world's largest ships.
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Army Hospital Ship Links
Signal Corps Photo of USAHS Louis A. Milne
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Robert G. Harris
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