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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAHS Aleda E. Lutz

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from 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

Hospital Ship:

Built as SS Colombie in 1931 by Ateliers ei Chantiers de France, Dunkirk, France, for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique for their Havre - West Indies route.

Launched, 18 July 1931

Served as armed merchant ship for France, circa 1940-41

Taken by the US Army at Casablanca, Morocco in December 1942

Converted in 1943 to a troopship by Arthur Tickle Engineering Co., New York, between April and October 1943, operated under the jurisdiction of the War Shipping Administration, with the French Line Inc. serving as general agents

During World War II SS Colombie operated between the east coast of the United States and the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater of operation

Acquired by the US Army Transportation Service for conversion to a hospital ship by Arthur Tickle Engineering Co., New York, between January and April 1945

Commission USAHS Aleda E. Lutz, 13 February 1945

Decommissioned, 6 April 1946, returned to the War Shipping Administration

Returned to the French Lines, 11 April 1946

Modernized and returned to commercial service on the Havre-West Indies route for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique

Sold in 1964 to Typaldos Lines, renamed Mt Atlantica

Typaldos Lines bankrupt in 1968

Sold for scrapping in 1974

Specifications:
Displacement 12,348 gross tons
Length 520'
Beam 66'4"
Draft 26'7"
Speed 16 kts.

Complement

Officers unknown

Enlisted, unknown

Patient Capacity 828
Fuel Capacities unknown
Cruise Radius 10,800 nm
Propulsion

two steam turbines

two propellers

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Pre WWII Merchant Service Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
30080204	83k	SS Colombie launching, 18 July 1931, at Ateliers ei Chantiers de France, Dunkirk, France.	John Spivey
30080205	130k	SS Colombie underway, date and location unknown.	John Spivey
30080209	201k	Compagnie Générale Transatlantique passenger liner SS Colombie underway, date and location unknown. Photographer unknown, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. You are free: to share	Robert Hurst
USAHS Aleda E. Lutz
30080201	123k	*Namesake* Aleda E. Lutz - (November 9, 1915 – November 1, 1944) was a United States Army flight nurse. She was the first American servicewoman to be killed in combat during World War II, and the first military woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which she received posthumously. She is the second-highest decorated woman in the history of the U.S. military.	Tommy Trampp
	1457k	USAHS Aleda E. Lutz moored pierside at Pearl Harbor, T.H., circa 21-34 November 1945.	Carl Kracht for his father PHom1/c Ken Kracht
	169k	USAHS Aleda E. Lutz in New York Harbor, circa 1945-46.
30080206	108k	USAHS Aleda E. Lutz arriving at Port of Embarkation, Charleston, S.C., date unknown U.S. Army Signal Corps photo	Tommy Trampp
Post WWII Merchant Service Compagnie Générale Transatlantique Typaldos Lines
30080210	224k	Compagnie Générale Transatlantique passenger liner SS Colombie at anchor after modification, date and location unknown. Photographer unknown, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. You are free: to share	Robert Hurst
30080207	154k	Typaldos Line Mt Atlantica brochure, circa 1965	Tommy Trampp
30080208	81k	Typaldos Line Mt Atlantica laid up at Praeus, Greece in 1970	Tommy Trampp

USAHS Aleda E. Lutz history is from "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles, Published by The Army Transportation Association, Washington, D.C., 1947

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Last Updated 12 Decemver 2025