View source for USS Dorothea L. Dix

{{Short description|U.S. Navy transport ship}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image= USS Dorothea L. Dix.jpg
 |image_caption=''Dorothea L. Dix'' underway, 10 July 1943, the first day of the invasion of Sicily. A [[Paravane (water kite)|paravane]] is visible near the waterline about a third back from the bow.
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=United States
 |flag= {{USN flag|1946}}
 |name=''Dorothea L. Dix''
 |namesake=[[Dorothea Dix]]
 |ordered=
 |builder=[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]]'s [[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]]
 |laid_down=
 |launched=22 June 1940
 |acquired=13 September 1942
 |commissioned=17 September 1942
 |decommissioned=24 April 1946
 |in_service=
 |out_of_service=
 |struck=
 |renamed=
 |reclassified=
 |homeport=
 |motto=
 |nickname=
 |honors=5 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
 |fate=Sold 1946, scrapped 1968
 |notes=
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|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption=
 |type= [[Type C3 class ship]] 
 |displacement= {{convert|11625|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
 |length= {{convert|473|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 |beam= {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 |draft= {{convert|22|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |depth=
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 |speed= {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}} 
 |range=
 |complement=422 officers and enlisted
 |armament=*1 × [[4-inch/50-caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun
           *4 × [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns
 |armor=
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 }}
}}
'''USS ''Dorothea L. Dix'' (AP-67)''' was a [[transport ship]] of the [[United States Navy]] named for American activist [[Dorothea Dix]] (1802&ndash;1887).

==Construction and career==
''Dorothea L. Dix'' was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 22 June 1940 as ''Exemplar'' by [[Bethlehem Steel Company]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract; sponsored by Miss P. J. Kalloch; transferred to the Navy on 13 September 1942; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 17 September 1942.<ref>Silverstone, p. 323</ref>

===Mediterranean, 1942&ndash;1943===
Putting to sea from [[Cove Point, Maryland]], on 23 October 1942, ''Dorothea L. Dix'' sailed with Task Force 34 (TF 34) to land Army troops and supply scout boats in the assault at [[Safi, Morocco|Safi]], [[French Morocco]], from 8 to 12 November, during "[[Operation Torch]]". She returned to [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] on 24 November. Between 12 December 1942 and 5 April 1943 she made two more transatlantic voyages to [[Oran]], Algeria, carrying Army troops and nurses.

After amphibious training at Norfolk, she sailed on 8 June 1943 for Oran, arriving on 22 June. On 5 July she got underway for the [[Allied invasion of Sicily|invasion of Sicily]], arriving off [[Scoglitti]] late on 9 July and debarking her troops and cargo early the next day under heavy air attack. She embarked wounded and one Italian prisoner and returned to Oran on 15 July. A week later she was en route to New York, arriving on 3 August to debark her passengers, German prisoners of war. A similar voyage was made to Oran between 21 August and 21 September after which she sailed on 8 October for the [[United Kingdom]].

''Dorothea L. Dix'' arrived at [[Gourock|Gourock Bay]], Scotland, on 17 October 1943, and sailed ten days later for [[Algiers]] where she exchanged troops for 243 survivors of {{USS|Beatty|DD-640|3}} and for Oran to embark Army troops. She unloaded cargo at Gourock Bay between 24 and 30 November then sailed to New York, arriving on 11 December. Between 29 December 1943 and 10 March 1944 she carried troops on two voyages from New York to Gourock Bay and [[Liverpool]].

===Normandy landings, 1944 ===
On 23 March 1944 ''Dorothea L. Dix'' sailed from New York for [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]], arriving on 3 April. After amphibious training in the Clyde area, she sortied with Temporary Transport Division 97 from the [[Isle of Portland]], England, on 5 June for the [[Operation Overlord|invasion landings]] at Normandy the following day. She returned to [[Weymouth Bay]] on the 7th to debark casualties, then embarked troops in the Clyde area and tanks at [[Avonmouth]] which she carried to Naples, arriving on 16 July.

[[Ernest Hemingway]] wrote a first-hand account of the Normandy landings from the ''Dix'' for [[Collier's]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hemingway |first1=Ernest |title=Voyage to Victory |journal=Collier's |date=22 Jun 1944}} Hemingway referred to the ship as the "Dorothea M. Dix."</ref>

===Mediterranean, 1944===
She put out from Naples on 13 August 1944 for the [[Operation Dragoon|invasion of southern France]] two days later, unloading tanks and Army troops for the assault landings. She continued to support this operation by carrying French, British, and Italian as well as American troops to [[Cavalaire-sur-Mer|Baie de la Cavalaire]] and [[Marseille]] from Naples and Oran until 22 October. Three days later she left Oran for New York, arriving on 8 November.
[[File:Dorothea L. Dix (AP-67) at anchor.jpg|thumb|''Dorothea L. Dix'' (AP-67) at anchor, {{circa|1945}}, place unknown]]

===Pacific, 1945&ndash;1946===
''Dorothea L. Dix'' put to sea from New York on 18 December 1944, and arrived at [[San Francisco]] on 4 January 1945. Two weeks later she sailed to carry Army troops to Pearl Harbor, returning to San Francisco on 2 February. After a voyage to [[Attu Island|Attu]], to transport Army troops to Aleutian Islands she proceeded to [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] arriving on 1 May. Here she landed support troops and embarked casualties and naval passengers for San Francisco, arriving on 27 May.

Between 10 June 1945 and 9 February 1946 ''Dorothea L. Dix'' operated on transport duty from San Francisco and other west coast ports to the [[Philippines]], carrying replacements to the Pacific and [[Operation Magic Carpet|returning veterans]]. She sailed to New York on 29 March 1946, was decommissioned there on 24 April 1946, and returned to the [[Maritime Commission]] for disposal the same day. In commercial service until sold 13 December 1968 to Aguilar y Peria, S.L., Spain for scrap.

==Awards==
''Dorothea L. Dix'' received five [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

== See also ==
* [[List of U.S. military vessels named after women]].

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Silverstone |first1=Paul H. |title=The Navy of World War II, 1922-1947 |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-97898-9|series=The U.S. Navy Warship Series}}

{{Type C3-E ships}}
{{Unique United States Navy transports}}
{{Empire ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorothea L. Dix (AP-67)}}
[[Category:Type C3-E ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Empire ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Type C3-E ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Unique transports of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships of American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines]]