Kent AP-28

Kent

A former name retained.

(AP-28: dp. 5,341; 1. 373'6" ; b. 51'6" ; dr. 22'8" ; s. 12 k. trp. 751; a. 4 3", 8.50 cal. mg.)

Kent (AP-28) was launched as Santa Teresa in November 1918 by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, Pa., for her owner, Grace Lines of New York. She operated as a passenger ship between California and the west coast of South America until sold in 1936 to Merchants & Miners Transportation Co., Baltimore, Md. Renamed Kent, she made passenger runs along the Atlantic Coast. In April 1941 she was purchased by the Army, renamed Ernest Hinds, and converted to a troop transport. She was transferred to the Navy 21 July under her previous name of Kent at New York 22 July, Comdr. E. J. Kidder in command.

Departing New York Kent sailed 16 August, for Panama and arrived 23 August with military passengers and cargo Six days later she cleared Coco Solo, C.Z., for New York and arrived 5 September. At New York when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Kent resumed transport duty along the Atlantic coast 22 December. Before returning New York 11 February 1942, she visited Charleston, Bermuda, and New Orleans. She was decommissioned at New York 24 March; turned over to the Army; and struck from the Navy List 8 May 1943. She resumed service with the Army Transport Service as Ernest Hinds. Arriving San Francisco from New York in May 1942, she carried troops and supplies throughout the Pacific and sailed to bases in Alaska, Hawaii, the Solomons, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and Australia. Returning to San Francisco in September 1943, Ernest Hinds was converted to a hospital ship.

Departing San Francisco in June 1944, the hospital ship steamed to Charleston to begin service between the East Coast and Europe. Ernest Hinds returned to New York in September 1945; reconverted to a trans-port; and transferred to the WSA to transport Jamaican laborers between the West Indies and Florida. Transferred to the U.S. Public Health Service in April 1946, she then served as a floating isolation ward at Jacksonville, Fla. Subsequently, she was returned to the Maritime Commission and entered the James River Reserve Fleet. She was scrapped in 1957.