Troops and Cargo Transported During World War II under U.S. Army Control

In February 1942, all merchant ships were requisitioned by the U.S. government. Commercial shippping ceased, and the War Shipping Administration made all decisions regarding cargo and destinations. Merchant ships carried ammunition, airplanes, aviation fuel, explosives, tanks, trucks, medicines, landing craft, locomotives, food to all theaters of war. they also brought raw material needed to make the airplanes, tanks, and ammunition. The "customers" for merchant ships were: 75% Army/Navy and 25% Allies. The Army also had its own fleet of ships, the Water Division of the Army Transportation Corps (ATS), with "civilian" seamen contract employees. (History of the Army Transport Service) The following data includes troops and supplies carried on merchant ships and on ATS ships.

Ammunition And High Explosives Shipped Overseas Cargo Shipped by Water Chart Showing Cargo Shipped Each Year Cargo Shipped by Principal Army Ports Cargo Shipped by Services within Armed Forces Aircraft Transported Overseas by Sea vs. Air; Crated vs. Uncrated Motor Vehicles Transported Overseas Other Cargo Transported

Passengers Embarked by Principal Army Ports Chart Passengers Embarked Monthly for Overseas Destination Oversea Destinations for Passengers Percentage of Troops Traveling on Vessels under British and U.S. Control Army Hospital Ships Entering Service Patients Evacuated from Overseas by Water War Brides and Dependents

Cargo Shipped by Army by Water: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

Includes cargo shipped to Army commanders overseas on vessels operated by or allocated to the Army, on vessels operated by or allocated to the Navy, and on commercial vessels for the military forces or for civilian relief; also lend-lease supplies shipped on vessels operated by or allocated so the Army. Figures do not include lend-lease supplies procured by the War Department and shipped on vessels not under Army control.

Measurement Tons of Forty Cubic Feet

(a) Latin America tonnage is combined with North America tonnage in 1945.
(b) Central Africa and Middle East tonnage is combined with Mediterranean and North Africa beginning November 1944.
(c) South Pacific tonnage is combined with Central Pacific beginning August 1944.

Chart Showing Percentage of Total Cargo Shipped Each Year (based on data above)

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Shipped to Overseas Destinations by Principal Army Ports: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

Includes cargo shipped to Army commanders overseas on vessels operated by or allocated to the Army, on vessels operated by or allocated to the Navy, and on commercial vessels for the military forces or for civilian relief; also lend-lease supplies shipped on vessels operated by or allocated so the Army. Figures do not include lend-lease supplies procured by the War Department and shipped on vessels not under Army control.

Measurement Tons of Forty Cubic Feet

The ports shown are the eight at which the Army operated ports of embarkation and the two (Philadelphia and Baltimore) at which the Army operated cargo ports. While the greater part of the cargo was loaded directly at these ports, some was loaded also at officially designated subports and at other ports located near and supervised by the principal ports. Of the unnamed ports, the larger tonnages were Loaded at Searsport, Maine (470,000 Measurement Tons, a subport of Boston; Prince Rupert, British Columbia (950,000 Measurement Tons.), a subport of Seattle; and Portland, Oregon (1,800.000 Measurement Tons, a subport of San Francisco through August 1944 and a subport of Seattle thereafter. The cargo included is the same as above.

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Shipped by Water by Services within the Armed Forces: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

Includes cargo shipped to Army commanders overseas on vessels operated by or allocated to the Army, on vessels operated by or allocated to the Navy, and on commercial vessels for the military forces or for civilian relief; also lend-lease supplies shipped on vessels operated by or allocated so the Army. Figures do not include lend-lease supplies procured by the War Department and shipped on vessels not under Army control.

Measurement Tons of Forty Cubic Feet

(a)Transportation Corps materiel included with "Miscellaneous" through 1942.
(b)Includes lend-lease and civilian relief supplies shipped on vessels operated by or allocated to the Army, Coast Artillery Corps shipments, troop baggage, household goods and other personal property of military personnel changing stations, Army Exchange and Special Services shipments, and some other items.
(c)Includes naval supplies shipped on vessels operated by or allocated to the Army. The Navy also transported Army materiel on vessels operated by or allocated to it.

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Army-Procured Ammunition And High Explosives Shipped Overseas from Army-Controlled Piers at U.S. Ports: Dec. 1941 to Aug. 1945

Tonnage in Short Tons

Port	Army	Lend-Lease	Total Tonnage
Searsport, ME	435,573	0	435,573
Boston	457,426	200	457,626
New York	1,532,306	1,180,974	2,713,280
Earle, NJ	513,753	215	513,968
Philadelphia	1,063,326	280,981	1,344,307
Baltimore	773,803	356,411	1,130,214
Hampton Roads, VA	1,282,130	2,141	1,284,271
Charleston, SC	455,743	1,480	457,223
Mobile, AL(a)	3,240	1,920	5,160
New Orleans	444,164	25,080	469,244
San Jacinto, TX	168,971	0	168,971
Atlantic and Gulf	7,130,435	1,849,402	8,979,837
Los Angeles	354,664	13,800	368,464
San Francisco	1,298,374	12,340	1,310,714
Portland	230,846	62,225	293,071
Seattle	374,764	40,908	415,672
Prince Rupert, BC	99,588	0	99,588
Pacific	2,358,236	129,273	2,487,509
All Ports	9,488,671	1,978,675	11,467,346

Tonnage in Short Tons calculated by converting carloads on the basis of forty tons to a carload through July 1944, thereafter forty-live tons to a carload.

The table excludes small arms ammunition. In addition to tonnage shown here, 60,000 tons of Army explosives and 340,000 tons of lend-lease explosives were shipped from piers not under Army control at New York. Philadelphia, Norfolk, Savannah, Jacksonville, Miami. Tampa, and Seattle.

(a) The explosives pier and storage facilities built by the Army at Mobile (Theodore) were turned over to the Navy in May 1944.

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Aircraft Dispatched to the Army Air Forces Overseas by Sea and by Air, Crated and Uncrated: Jan. 1942 To July 1945

 

Sea	Heavy Bombers	Medium Bombers	Light Bombers	Fighters	Gliders	Transport & Misc.	Total Aircraft
1942	0	0	73	2,607	0	163	2,843
1943	0	0	822	6,396	3,228	979	11,425
1944	0	0	680	13,774	4,264	4,286	23,004
1945 (Jan.-July)	0	0	89	6,369	I, 256	2,865	10,579
Total by Sea	0	0	1,664	29,146	8,748	8,293	47,851

Air	Heavy Bombers	Medium Bombers	Light Bombers	Fighters	Gliders	Transport & Misc.	Total Aircraft
1942	910	710	95	433	0	393	2,541
1943	4,794	2,314	219	396	0	1,632	9,355
1944	11,258	2,830	678	61	0	3,417	18,244
1945 (Jan.-July)	3,688*	631	822	368	0	1,647	7,156
Total by Air	20,650	6,485	1,814	1,258	0	7,089	37,296
Total Sea & Air	20,650	6,485	3,478	30,404	8,748	15,382	85,147

Data does not include aircraft assigned to other nations under lend-lease, which numbered over 44,000.
*Includes 1,175 very heavy bombers dispatched in 1945.

 

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Army Aircraft Transported Overseas Under the Cognizance of the Committee on Aircraft Transportation: March 1943 to April 1945

The committee was established in March 1943 to increase the transportation of assembled aircraft overseas.

Types of Vessels	Assembled	Crated	Total
Tankers	15,795	3,758	19,553
Escort Aircraft Carriers	4,175	0	4,175
Aircraft Transports (ZEC's)	1,943	128	2,071
Cargo Ships	3,407	(a)	3,407
All Types	25,320	3,886	29,206

(a) Crated aircraft shipped on cargo vessels did not come under the cognizance of the committee.

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Motor Vehicles Transported to the Oversea Commands: Jan. 1943 to June 1945

Data for other war months not available. Motor vehicles shipped under lend-lease to Allied nations are not included.

Period	Boxed		Unboxed		Total Vehicles
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
1943	376,388	76	118,813	24	495,201
1944	342,313	61	219,901	39	562,214
1945 (Jan.-June)	188,731	60	125,390	40	314,121
Total (30 Months)	907,432	66	464,104	34	1,371,536

 

Other Cargo Transported Overseas Under Army Control
(Mules, war dogs, locomotives, Christmas mail)

Mules, Army use in Burma and Italy	7,800
Mules, Lend Lease for Great Britain	3,500
War dogs	1,900
Locomotives	2,030
Christmas '44 mail from New York, sacks	2,600,000
Christmas '44 mail from San Francisco, sacks	750,000

 

War Brides and Dependents Transported Through Sept. 1946

Atlantic	48,408
Pacific	7,806
Adults	41,502
Infants	14,712
Total	56,214

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Passengers Embarked by Principal Army Ports: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

Figures include military personnel of the Army, Navy, and Allied nations, civilians, and prisoners of war.

Port	Dec. 1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Total
Boston	0	26,747	116,476	456,651	169,024	768,898
New York	3,399	421,756	910,658	1,400,486	536,710	3,273,009
Hampton Roads	1,135	55,489	234,872	372,368	100,975	764,839
Charleston, SC	1,981	25,556	2,069	447	6,601	36,654
New Orleans	6,172	58,139	41,069	42,470	26,801	174,651
Los Angeles	0	1,940	46,418	74,782	94,746	217,886
San Francisco	15,084	289,637	456,998	534,018	450,252	1,745,989
Seattle	2,068	75,491	49,777	178,760	273,113	579,209
Portland	0	0	0	0	47,194	47,194
Prince Rupert, BC	0	547	12,783	12,145	5,687	31,162
Total	29,839	955,302	1,871,120	3,072,127	1,711,103	7,639,491

• Embarkations by cargo ports and subports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are combined with embarkations at the ports of embarkation to which they were sub-ordinate.
• Number of passengers embarked at Halifax, a subport of Boston, is not available.
• Boston was a subport of New York until July 1942.
• New York includes 225 passengers embarked at the Philadelphia cargo port in 1943, and 250 in 1944. Hampton roads includes 295 passengers embarked at the Baltimore cargo port in 1942, 1,044 in 1943, 84 in 1944, and 11 in 1945.
• Hampton Roads was a subport of New York until June 1942.
• Charleston was a subport of New York until January 1942.
• New Orleans includes 751 passengers embarked during 1942 at Miami, Key West, and Galveston. Los Angeles was a subport of San Francisco until October 1943.
• San Francisco includes 17,048 passengers embarked at Portland, as a subport of San Francisco, through August 1944.
• Seattle includes 4,838 passengers embarked at Portland, as a subport of Seattle, September to December 1944.
• Seattle was a subport of San Francisco until January 1942.
• Portland continued as a subport of Seattle during 1945, although its embarkations are shown separately.
• Prince Rupert was a subport of Seattle.

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Passengers Embarked Monthly by Army at U.S. Ports for Overseas Destination: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

Atlantic areas include North and Latin America, Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom, Europe, Mediterannean, Africa, and Middle East.

Pacific areas include western Canada, Alaska, Central Pacific, South Pacific, southwest Pacific, western Pacific, India, Burma, Japan, and Korea.

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Oversea Destinations for Passengers Embarked by the Army: Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1945

The grouping into Atlantic and Pacific areas indicates that the passengers were embarked mainly but not exclusively at Atlantic and Gulf ports or at Pacific ports.

 

Destination	Dec-41	1942	1943	1944	1945	Total
North America	1,243	14,601	15,326	7,512	30,564	214,026
Latin America	9,071	74,267	32,475	28,967
Mediterranean	0	102,860	491,399	342,615	104,918	1,116,047
Central Africa-Middle East	327	41,794	32,134
European	2,046	289,145	678,941	1,800,225	690,807	3,461,164
Total Atlantic Areas	12,687	522,667	1,250,275	2,179,319	826,289	4,791,237
North America	2,068	82,054	100,335	46,831	19,213	250,501
Central Pacific	15,084	109,300	115,494	398,375	380,407	1,213,684
South Pacific	0	77,936	117,088
Southwest Pacific	0	149,494	194,286	341,566	439,522	1,124,868
Asiatic	0	13,851	93,642	106,036	45,672	259,201
Total Pacific Areas	17,152	432,635	620,845	892,808	884,814	2,848,254
Total All Areas	29,839	955,302	1,871,120	3,072,127	1,711,103	7,639,491

• North America includes bases in Canada, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Bermuda.
• Latin America includes Panama Canal Zone, Caribbean, South America, and South Atlantic.
• Mediterranean includes North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
• Middle East includes Egypt, Red Sea, and Iran.
• European includes Iceland, United Kingdom, and continental Europe.
• North America includes Alaska and western Canada.
• Central and South Pacific were combined into Pacific Ocean Areas in 1944.
• Southwest Pacific includes embarkations for western Pacific, Japan, and Korea after those areas were occupied by U.S. forces.
• Asiatic includes India, Burma, and China.

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Percentage of Troops Embarked from U.S. Ports in Vessels under British and U.S. Control: May 1944 To Dec. 1945

Army Hospital Ships Entering Service During World War II

Patients Evacuated from Overseas by Water and Debarked at Army Ports in United States: 1943 to 1945

Includes Army, Navy, and Allied military patients debarked at Army ports indicated.