Charles A. Ranlett Madison Jordan Manchester ex USS Hydra (AK-82) ex MV Eben H. Linnell Marvin Lyle Thomas ex MV Moses Pike later USNS Sagitta (T-AK-87) Richard R. Arnold ex Nashira (AK-85) ex MV Josiah Paul Robert M. Emery ex Mira (AK-84) ex MV William Nott Thomas F. Farrel Jr. ex Europa (AT-81) ex MV William Lester WSA allocated The other ship was the World War I vessel SS Josephine Lawrence (ex Covena) built by Great Lakes Engineering Works and allocated to Army by the WSA. Junior N. Van Noy (ex Lawrence, ex Josephine Lawrence, ex Covena) a 3,000 ton, 277 feet long vessel with a beam of 43 feet and speed of 10 knots and the first of these ships to arrive overseas. Crews The ships were crewed by Combat Engineers organized into formal Army units, the Engineer Port Repair Ship Crew. The first crew to arrive in the European Theater of Operations aboard the Junior N. Van Noy was the 1071st Engineer Port Repair Ship Crew. Organization The Engineer Field Manual (FM-5-5) states: f. The engineer port repair ship is divided into a headquarters section and an operating section. It maintains channel markings and other aids for pilots, and removes obstructions from channels or ship berths. Section VI of FM-5-5 provides evidence the ship was organized as an Army Engineering unit with seamanship training differing in organization from a typical naval or commercial ship. A superseded organization chart found on page 23 of the manual shows an organization of Headquarters, Deck, Engine and Operating sections a bit more typical of a ships organization. Early training difficulties Though the ships were to be managed, operated and crewed by the Corps of Engineers (COE) the Transportation Corps (TC) had primary responsibility for obtaining, managing the shipyard modifications to COE and TC specifications and in initial crew training. The crews assembled on the West Coast in August 1943 under TC jurisdiction where they were put into training in nautical and technical fields. The COE was concerned about the qualifications and training thus establishing two investigative boards in San Francisco and Seattle composed of U.S. Coast Guard, COE and TC personnel to interview each candidate destined for ship deck or engine room operations on knowledge of navigation and seamanship. The results were less than desirable: The board at San Francisco reported on 4 October that none of the three crews at that