USS President Taylor (Granite State, President Polk)

USN
Transport

Dimensions
522' 8" | 62'0" 32'3"

Gross Tons
10,508

Speed
13 knots

Range
6,000 miles
2 Engines

Cargo
150,000 (cu.ft.)

Passengers
1,873

Captain
Cpt. A.W. Aitken

Beached
February 14, 1942
1820 hrs off Canton

Ship History
Built by NY Shipbuilding Corp. in 1921.

Wartime History
In December, 1941 she was hastily outfitted as a Troop Carrier in San Francisco, and departed on December 27 to Honolulu, arriving on January 7, 1942. Returned to San Francisco on January 21, 1942 and left January 31, 1942, en route to the Philippines with one stop at Canton on the way.

Beaching on Canton
The Taylor becoming beached at 18:20 on the February 14, 1942.Taylor was enroute from SF to the Philippines, with one stop at Canton. The beaching of Taylor resulted in staying too close to Canton because the commander of its escort (USS Porter), CPT H.E. Overesch, did not want the ship too far from shore with the threat of Japanese subs. Afterwards, they tried using tugs but could not afloat it, but to no avail. The aproximately 1,000 troops aboard took off most of the useful equipment.

Scrap Metal
In 1952 the ship was sold to North Coast Corporation for scrap metal. In 1954 the scrapping began off Canton.

Recollections
About the wreck of the President Taylor

Charles Martin recalls:
"On numerous occasions I visited Canton Island while in the U.S. Navy, between 1946 through 1948. There was a ship beached at the end of the island. I often wondered what it's name was and what happen to it apparently during the war."

Vincerica mentions:
"My dad was based there at the time as an orderly. one war story he told me was the officer who ran the ship aground tried to blow his brains out with a revolver rather than face court martial. But he failed and my dad helped nurse him back to health."

Erik Andal mentions:
"My grandfather, Frank Dyer, served on Canton Island as a USN Seabee. He went aboard the beached USS President Taylor. I recall him telling me he didn't know why it was beached, but one day he walked/swam to it and remembered that there was water inside the ship. He recovered the log book. When he died a couple years ago the log book was given to me. I gave it to the Maritime Museum in San Francisco"

References
"Troopships of WWII" Charles Roland, 1947 (page 238).
Thanks to Erik Andal for transcribing.

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