On 8 October 1941, the
United States Maritime Commission took control of
Acadia from Alcoa Steamship Company in New York and for allocation to and charter by the
Army Transport Service, then under the
Quartermaster Corps, with operation by commercial shipping company agents. The ship was operated briefly by
American West African Lines until restored to Alcoa operation on 23 November and operation by the line until returned to Eastern Steamship operation 29 April 1942 in New Orleans where control and the agreement was changed by the newly established
War Shipping Administration (WSA) which now controlled and allocated all ocean going commercial type vessels. During the early part of 1942
Acadia was used to transport diplomats from South American countries and transporting German, Japanese and Italians from South America to internment in the United States.
Troop transport and ambulance ship On 16 October 1942, at Boston, WSA allocated
Acadia to the
War Department on a bareboat basis for operation under the newly established
Transportation Corps under which ships could be used as troop transports and ambulance ships for evacuation of wounded. During May 1942
Acadia was withdrawn from ordinary transport service and outfitted at the
Boston Port of Embarkation for such a combined function with a troop capacity of 1,100 troops to overseas destinations and 530 patients on the return voyage; making the first voyage as such in December 1942. Private Martin Lipschultz, member of the ship's 204th Medical Hospital Ship Company, described the arrangements: :"The
Acadia was the first combined troop-transport-hospital ship to sail from the United States in World War II with a full hospital complement aboard. The 204th Medical Hospital Ship Company consisted of 18 Officers, 37 Nurses, and 94 Enlisted Men (it was activated April 1943). At the time of its first trip the German U-Boat menace was far from gone, and the
Acadia with her precious cargo of troops, would have been a fine target for any enemy torpedo... :"The first voyage ended at Casablanca, French Morocco… For the next 4 months the
Acadia would be crossing between North Africa and New York, carrying troops on the outbound trip and wounded patients on the return voyage..."
Hospital ship In the early days of the war the Army had requested hospital ships but both the
Bureau of the Budget and Maritime Commission had declined the request and noted such ships were properly the Navy's responsibility. When the Army renewed the request the administrator of the Maritime Commission, who also served as head of the War Shipping Administration, required the Army and Navy to agree on the strategic requirements for such ships before any allocation would be made. The Army had decided on the dual troop transport ambulance ship solution until events forced a change to
Hague Convention protected hospital ships. One such event was the refusal of both the North African and European Theater commands to load helpless, non ambulatory, patients aboard unprotected ships subject to attack. There was also evidence that the Germans, Italians and Japanese were respecting hospital ship status. in 1943 On 30 March 1943, the Army's Surgeon General recommended
Acadia be immediately registered as a hospital ship under the convention due to the urgency of the North African situation. On 6 May the State Department was notified of the designation and
Acadia, not needing extensive conversion due to the previous ambulance ship role and requiring mainly new paint and markings. The quick conversion of
Acadia is described by Private Martin Lipschultz: :"Then followed a short break with layover in
New York harbor, while the ship exchanged her gray war paint coat for a white and green one. The anti-aircraft and other guns, the Navy crew, and the troopship bunks all went off, and after being duly registered under the Treaties of The Hague Convention, the new United States Army Hospital Ship
Acadia was ready to sail once more."
Acadia, with a capacity for 788 patients and three surgical teams had no water ambulances was the larger of two hospital ships evacuating U.S. wounded from North Africa, but was too large to dock at
Bizerte.{{cite web |title= USAHS U.S. Army Hospital Ships During the
Italian Campaign, though the ship did get to Italy,
Acadia and
Seminole were mainly used to transport patients from North African rear area hospitals to the United States while
Shamrock was the only Army hospital ship normally engaged in transporting patients from Italy to North Africa. With the landings in Normandy patients were evacuated to the United Kingdom and
Acadia was diverted to the Mediterranean theater. The hospital ship made a brief appearance in the Pacific in 1945. ==Post-War service==