The USS Mercer (APL-39/IX-502) is a Benewah-class barracks ship built on an LST hull, designed for berthing and messing large numbers of naval personnel. Laid down at the Boston Navy Yard on August 24, 1944, and launched on November 17, 1944, she was initially classified as Barracks Craft APL 39, later reclassified as Self-Propelled Barracks Ship (APB 39) on August 7, 1944. She was sponsored by Mrs. Lillian Gaudette and commissioned on September 19, 1945. Constructed to serve as a mobile berthing and mess facility, Mercer’s early service began in New York, where she started berthing and feeding naval personnel on November 7, 1945. Shortly thereafter, she served as quarters for the Marine security detachment during the United Nations meetings at Hunter College in The Bronx. After her transfer to the Inactive Fleet in January 1946, she remained in New York until September, then moved to Orange, Texas, before being decommissioned in June 1947 at Green Cove Springs, Florida, where she joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Reactivated in October 1951, Mercer served as a receiving ship in Naples, Italy, until July 1952, then returned to the U.S. for duty with the Mobile Construction Battalions at Davisville, Rhode Island, until late 1955. She made three deployments to Argentia, Newfoundland, during the early 1950s and notably participated in President Eisenhower’s 1953 Inaugural Parade, berthing midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. After a pre-inactivation overhaul, Mercer was decommissioned in February 1956 but was reactivated in 1968 for service in the Vietnam War. Arriving in Vung Tau on July 31, 1968, she supported the Mobile Riverine Force against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces into 1969. Post-Vietnam, she served as a barracks ship at Portland, Oregon, during the mid-1970s. Later reclassified as IX-502, a miscellaneous auxiliary, she functioned as a berthing barge at Naval Station San Diego and Long Beach Naval Shipyard until the late 1990s. Reclassified again as APL-39 in 2001, she remains part of the CincPacFlt Berthing and Messing Program, berthed in Sasebo, Japan. Mercer earned four campaign stars and multiple awards for her service in Vietnam, including the Presidential Unit Citation and Navy Unit Commendation.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.