Talk:USS General M. C. Meigs

This page needs to be renamed USS General Montgomery C. Meigs (AP-116).147.240.236.9 22:19, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Camoflage pattern

Does anybody know the Measure number of the camoflage pattern that the Meigs is wearing in the picture in this article? 147.240.236.9 21:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

A Servicemen remembers

"The USS General M C Meigs was not in commission when I reported aboard. She was a large, high-speed troop transport who would normally cruise in excess of 25 knots (46 km/h). Pre-commissioning was in Long Island Sound where the water was like glass. Two of my third class operators were so seasick they stood watch with buckets. We had to put them on the beach.

The ship was commissioned near Hartford, Connecticut. We had to buy white uniforms and shoes that we never had any use for thereafter.

The MEIGS could carry 5000 troops. Our first run was from New York to Italy via Rio de Janeiro where we picked up native troops, and I mean native. They must have scoured the jungle for these guys and put uniforms on them with Uncle Sam paying their salaries. They would spend all evening having snake dances on deck.

From Naples we went back to New York carrying USO people, walking wounded, and German prisoners." (Andy Sallet, US Coastguard 1938 - ?)

A wreck revisited

"On June 1, 2006, my wife and I made our first trip through the rain and rain forest jungles of NW Washington in search of the shipwrecked ruins of the USS Gen Meigs AP116, a ship I had sailed on 58 years earlier. This first trek was the culmination of 14 years of research.

"On June 2, 2006, exactly 62 years to the day after it "was acquired by the Navy on June 2, 1944", we visited with 3 men who had boarded the shipwrecked Meigs and had taken off several treasures for booty. One, in whose home we were visiting, had the main wooden/brass helm hanging over his fireplace. I had steered that helm 58 years earlier.

"On June 3, 2006, exactly 62 years to the day after it was "commissioned by the Navy on June 3, 1944," my wife and I made our second attempt to find the wreckage of the Meigs. Fortunately, it was not raining, which made passage through the jungle foliage somewhat easier. Due to hours of studying information about the wreck site and topo maps, after a very difficult descent through the under- and over- growth, we came out right on top of the rusting remains of the USS Gen Meigs, these many years later. We have collected numerous pictures and stories of the Meigs. Swiss Family Robinson never had a greater adventure."

Calvin Pitts, Captain, and wife Wanda, in 2006 pittscalvin@bellsouth.net