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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Monticello (AP-61)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Bravo - Tango NABT

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Monticello Class Transport:

Built in 1928 as SS Conte Grande at Stabilimento Tecnico, Trieste, Italy

Launched, 28 June 1927

Interned in Brazil at the opening of World War II

Purchased by the US government, 16 April 1942

Commissioned USS Monticello (AP-61), 16 April 1942, CAPT Morton L. Deyo, USN.

Converted to for Naval Transport at Philadelphia

During World War II USS Monticello served in both the European and Asiatic Theaters

Operated by a Coast Guard crew after 6 August 1945

Decommissioned, 22 March 1946, at Norfolk, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946

Transferred to the War Shipping Administration of the Maritime Commission, 27 May 1946

Returned to Italian Government per Executive Order 9935 signed by President Truman, 16 March 1948

Refitted for commercial service, name reverted to SS Conte Grande reflagged Italian

Final Disposition, broken up for scrap at La Spezia, Italy in 1961

Specifications:
Displacement 25,000 t. (lim)
Length 652' 8"
Beam 78' 1"
Draft 27' 6"
Speed 18 kts.

Complement

Officers 48

Enlisted 793

Troop Accommodations

Officers 200

Enlisted 6,720

Cargo Capacity 60,000 cubic feet

Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

six single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts

four .30 Machine guns

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 28,700 Bbls

Diesel 720 Bbls

Propulsion

two Stabilimento Tecnico (Italy) Parsons type turbine

nine Scotch boilers, 230psi 500°

Stalil Main Reduction Gear

Ship's Service Generators

three turbo-drive, 150Kw 120V D.C.

two turbo-drive, 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

twin propellers, 24,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Merchant Service Lloyd Sabaudo Line
	54k	Pre-war image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown. Painting by Paolo Klodic.	Tommy Trampp
092206119	98k	Passenger liner SS Conte Grande at anchor, after arriving in New York on her maiden voyage, 5 May 1928. Photographer unknown. Times Wide World Photos. Mid-Week Pictorial, Volume 27, Issue 11, May 1928 This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.	Robert Hurst
	70k	Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
	143k	Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
	132k	Pre-war postcard image of as the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
	79k	Post-war image of ex-*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** in commercial service after World War II as the Italian flagged SS Conte Grande, underway, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	63k	Post-war post card image of ex-*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** in commercial service in 1957 as the Italian flagged SS Conte Grande underway, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
092206117	259k	SS Conte Grande in the harbor at Naples, Italy, 1960. Photographer unknown. by late related person. The heirs of the creator of this work hereby publish it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.	Robert Hurst
092206118	90k	Pre-war image of the Italian flagged Lloyd Sabaudo Lines' SS Conte Grande tied up in port, date/location unknown. Photo courtesy of Osthyveln från Österrike. I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.	Robert Hurst
092206120	78k	Passenger liner SS Conte Grande before she was sold for scrap, 1961. Photo courtesy of Osthyveln från Österrike. I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.	Robert Hurst
USS Monticello (AP-61)
	263k	*Namesake* Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States	Tommy Trampp
	140k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** moored pierside at Philadelphia Navy Yard circa late May 1942 soon after her arrival from Brazil, where this ex-Italian liner had been interned, seized by Brazil, and sold by Brazil to the US Navy. US National Archives, RG-19, Correspondence files, C-AP61, Photo No. Unknown, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	154k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61) in the background of this photo of USS Terror (CM-5)** at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, sometime between 25 August and 16 September 1942. Monticello completed conversion, 10 September 1942.	Robert Hurst
	109k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** underway, 15 September 1942, near the Philadelphia Navy Yard after completing conversion. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-35386, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	98k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** underway near San Francisco, 15 December 1943. Photographed by an aircraft from NAS Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, CA. US National Archives, RG-80-G, Photo No. 80-G-214094, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	145k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Jim Kurrasch Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
	243k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61) in port Marseille, France December 1945, loading Army personnel of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalion** for their return trip to the United States. Note numbers on the hats of the soldiers boarding. Each soldier was assigned a number for the boarding process. The soldier with the number 86 on his hat is PFC Alfred H. Brissenden. The soldier with the number 143 is PFC Dillard D. Bailey. Photos courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr.	Mikel Shilling
	274k		Mikel Shilling
	238k	Homeward bound *284th Engineer Combat Battalion* soldiers aboard *USS Monticello* (AP-61)**, hanging over the rails as the ship passes Gibraltar in December 1945, while outbound from Marseille, France enroute to New York, City. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr,	Mikel Shilling
	247k	Christmas aboard *USS Monticello* (AP-61), December 1945, as she is returning Army personnel of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalion** to the United States. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr,	Mikel Shilling
	215k	*USS Monticello* (AP-61) arriving at New York City from Marseille, France with homeward bound soldiers of the 284th Engineer Combat Battalion**in December 1945. Photo courtesy of PFC Charles W. Kelson Jr,	Mikel Shilling

USS Monticello (AP-61)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CAPT. Deyo, Morton Lyndholm :RADM	16 April 1942 - 1943
02	CAPT. Colyear, Bayard Henry	1943 - 1944
04	CDR. Leslie, George R. USCG	21 July 1945 - 22 July 1945
05	CAPT. Patch R. S. USCG	22 July 1945 - 22 March 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database

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Last Updated 12 December 2025