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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAHS Wisteria

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Hospital Ship:

Laid down, 6 February 1943, as SS William Osler, a type EC2-S-C1 "Liberty Ship", under Maritime Commission Contract (MCE-954) at Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD.

Launched, 6 March 1943

Delivered, 22 March 1943, to the War Shipping Administration upon completion

Operated under a General Agency Agreement for the War Shipping Administration by States Marine Corp.

Purchased, 22 November 1943, by the War Department for conversion to a hospital ship

Converted at Bethlehem Steel Co. Brooklyn, 27th St. Yard, New York between 23 November 1943 and 15 July 1944

Commissioned USAHS Wisteria in July 1944

During World War II USAHS Wisteria operated in European-Africa-Middle East Theater

Decommissioned in June 1947

Returned to the Maritime Commission for lay up, 24 June 1947, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group Astoria, OR.

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 29 February 1968, to Oregon Shipwreckers Inc. (one of seven ships) (PD-X-793, dated 6 February 1968) for $365,898.99, Withdrawn, 27 march 1968

Specifications:
Displacement 7,940 gross tons
Length 441'6"
Beam 56'10"
Draft 24'
Speed 11 kts.

Complement

Officers unknown

Enlisted, unknown

Hospital Ship - Patient Capacity 591

Passenger/Transport - 1,067 troops and 147 dependents
Fuel Capacities unknown
Cruise Radius 17,688 nm
Propulsion

two boilers

one triple expansion steam engine, 2,500hp Ship's Service Generators
three recip-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.
one turbo-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.

single propeller

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
U.S. Maritime Commission - SS Willam Osler
30081409	208k	SS William Osler Builders Plate	Tommy Trampp
USAHS Wisteria
30081408	82k	SS William Osler was converted into an Army Hospital Ship, renamed USAHS Wisteria, seem here underway, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
30081407	548k	*Namesake* Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family. The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north of Iran. They were later introduced to France, Germany and various other countries in Europe (Wikipedia) Photo - Chinese Wisteria flower clusters by 3268zauber licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported	Tommy Trampp
30081404	98k	USAHS Wisteria moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Army Signal Corps. photo	John Spivey
30081401	108k	USAHS Wisteria arriving at Port of Embarkation, Charleston, S.C., date unknown. US Army Signal Corps. photo
	66k	USAHS Wisteria in port Gibraltar, circa 1944-45. Photo source FLICKR Bahrfeldt
	326k	USAHS Wisteria newspaper article. Photo source FLICKR Bahrfeldt
30081406	256k	USAHS Wisteria and USAHS Acadia docked at Yokohama, Japan, 1946 US Army Signal Corps photo now in Digital collection ww2online - The National WWII Museum photo # 2011.309.28_1
30081405	18k	USAHS Wisteria at anchor, date and location unknown. US Army photo from Flicker

USAHS Wisteria Collection of US Army Chaplain 1LT. Arthur J. Gibson

US Army Chaplain 1LT. Arthur J. Gibson
aboard USAHS Wisteria mid Atlantic, circa 1945-1946

LT Arthur J. Gibson's
Wistera voyage record

USAHS Wisteria Rescue Photos - Collection of US Army Chaplain 1LT. Arthur J. Gibson

SS George G. Meade

Boat crew departing Wisteria

Halfway between Wisteria and Meade

Boat returning to Wisteria with patient from Meade

Wisteria crew and patients watching boat operations

Patient suffering acute appendicitis being
lifted from Wisteria lifeboat onto the ship after
being picked up from liberty ship SS George G Meade
mid-Atlantic, circa 1044-45

USAHS Wisteria lifeboat being raised
to the deck after picking up a patient from SS George G. Meade,
mid-Atlantic, circa 1945-1945.

The ship was illuminated at night
and below the man on the smokestack
are the lights that illuminated the outline of the red cross
on the stack.

USAHS Wisteria - Photo Collection of US Army Chaplain 1LT. Arthur J. Gibson - Wisteria Chapel Service August 1945

USAHS Wisteria - Photo Collection of US Army Chaplain 1LT. Arthur J. Gibson General Scenes 1945

Wistera's White Caps,
1945, probably Charleston, S.C.
Wistera crew members relaxing
on the fantail.
Wistera crew members relaxing
on the upper decks.
Wisteria1Lt' Arthur J. Gibson, Chaplain, US Army,
roaming the decks of Wisteria
Caption on back reads "Smiling Thru."
Wisteria Archie Lee (M.P.) Lt. Smithen,
August 1945
Wisteria German POWs on fantail
August 1945.
Wisteria"Bum-boats”
alongside, Ponta Delgada, Azores,
3 August 1945.

USAHS Wisteria history is from "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles, Published by The Army Transportation Association, Washington, D.C., 1947
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database - William Osler
MARAD Vessel History Database - Wisteria
1/350th scale model of USAHS Wisteria

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 14 November 2025