Mormacpenn

Moore-McCormack

Mormacpenn

*SHIP NAME: Mormacpenn (1)*	OFFICIAL NO:	SHIP DESIGN: C3-M
BUILDER: Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock, Chester, Pa.	KEEL LAID: May 1, 1939
CHRISTENED BY:
LAUNCH DATE: October 11, 1939	COMPLETION DATE: January 18, 1940
OVERALL LENGTH: 465'	SPEED: 16.5 Knots
PASSENGERS:
OUTSTANDING POINTS: Made its last voyage as a Moore-McCormack liner in November 1940. On this last voyage she carried $3,500,000 in Argentine gold.
PRIOR HISTORY: Built new.	SUBSEQUENT HISTORY: Acquired by the US Navy in December 1940, renamed Griffin (AS-13) and converted to a submarine tender at Robbins Dry Dock & Repair Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.. Scrapped at Portland, Or. 1973.

SHIP NAME: Mormacpenn (2)	OFFICIAL NO:	SHIP DESIGN: C3
BUILDER: Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Pascagoula, Ms.	KEEL LAID:
CHRISTENED BY:
LAUNCH DATE: December 21, 1940	COMPLETION DATE: Delivered June 15, 1941
OVERALL LENGTH:	SPEED:
PASSENGERS:
OUTSTANDING POINTS: She was laid down as Exminister and was launched as Mormacpenn. She however never served as a merchant vessel.
PRIOR HISTORY: Built new.	SUBSEQUENT HISTORY: She was commissioned the USS Markab (AK-31). She was scrapped in 1976.

*SHIP NAME: Mormacpenn (3)*	OFFICIAL NO:	SHIP DESIGN: C3-S-A2
BUILDER: Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Pascagoula, Ms.	KEEL LAID:
CHRISTENED BY:
LAUNCH DATE: May 22, 1942	COMPLETION DATE:
OVERALL LENGTH:	SPEED:
PASSENGERS:
OUTSTANDING POINTS: Served as a troopship 1943-1946
PRIOR HISTORY: Built new for Moore-McCormack.	SUBSEQUENT HISTORY: After serving as a troopship, she was traded in and used as a down payment on the Brown Victory which was renamed Mormacpine. The Mormacwren was scrapped in 1965.
SHIP NAME: Mormacpenn (4)	OFFICIAL NO: 250541	SHIP DESIGN: C3-S-A5
BUILDER: Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Pascagoula, Ms.	KEEL LAID:
CHRISTENED BY:
LAUNCH DATE:	COMPLETION DATE: December 1946
OVERALL LENGTH: 492'	SPEED: 17.5 knots
PASSENGERS:
OUTSTANDING POINTS:
PRIOR HISTORY: Built new for Moore-McCormack.	SUBSEQUENT HISTORY: Sold to Oswego Shipping Co., Inc. (Marine Transport Lines Inc.), renamed Silver Lark. Scrapped at Kaohsiung in 1972.


(Photo courtesy of Capt. Tom Ellsworth Copyright © 2003-2004 - All rights reserved. Do not reproduce. If anyone wants copies, please email Tom at tbells@cox.net.)



	The U.S.S. Griffin, originally the Mormacpenn. The Mormacpenn was built by Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock and launched October 11, 1939. She only served with Moore-McCormack a short time before she was acquired by the Navy in 1940. She was converted to a submarine tender and commissioned July 31, 1941. *It should be noted that this is the first of three ships named Mormacpenn.*
When Is A Shipmaster ("The Mooremack News," June, 1948) (Courtesy of Vincent Fiorenza) When is a sea captain a heel? And when is he a good guy? In recent weeks we of Mooremack had answers to both questions, but we are still a bit confused. Prior to the Argentina’s sailing, in April, the entire male cast of the Broadway hit, "Mister Roberts," starring Henry Fonda, went aboard the ship to serve as jurors in a fashion show sponsored by Cosmopolitan Magazine. The men, including Mr. Fonda, wore their seagoing costumes, just as they do on the stage. The thousands who have seen this hit will recall that the master of the cargo ship is the villain of the piece. Yet there he was, with his crew, telling the clothes models what was good or not so good about their costumes, and a pretty nice sort of a fellow, too. Then, just when we were wondering about sea captains, along came the incident of our own Captain Hansen and his Mormacpenn crew. Captain Hansen, one of Mooremack’s veteran skippers, was transferred last month to the Mormacland, operating in our Pacific Republics service. He succeeds Captain Bernard Kelly, who is being transferred East. Captain Sorensen, our senior master, took out the Mormacpenn when she sailed in April. This shift places Captain Hansen nearer his San Francisco home and brings Captain Kelly nearer his beloved New Jersey. But the real story is this. Just prior to leaving ship, Captain Hansen entertained a few of the pier staff in his quarters aboard the Mormacpenn and in the midst of it all, in walked one of the crew, a package in his hand. And what was it? A gold watch, no less, from the crew of the Mormacpenn, a gift to their departing master.