Her commercial life was of short duration, for on June 15, 1941, the 

 Navy commissioned her the U.S.S. West Point. Early in November, 1941, 

 she was sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she embarked a load of 

 British and Canadian troops destined for the China-Burma-India theater 

 of operations. Setting out on November 10 with 5,538 troops — her capacity 

 at that time — she stopped at Trindad, British West Indies ; and was two 

 days out of Capetown, South Africa, when the news of Pearl Harbor 

 was broadcast to the world. From Capetown she traveled to Bombay, 

 where she was held for three weeks before being ordered to Singapore. 

 There the troops were disembarked ; and the following day the Japanese 

 attacked Singapore from the air. The U.S.S. Wakefield, which was tied 

 up just astern of the West Point, was hit by a bomb. The West Point's 

 open decks were scattered with shrapnel, but the damage was superficial. 

 Waiting only for civilians desperate to leave Singapore before the city's 

 imminent fall, she got under way for Batavia, Java, on January 30, 1942, 

 with approximately 2,000 passengers of various nationalities, whose one 

 common bond was an eagerness to get out of the war area. Five days after 

 leaving Singapore a baby was born on board. 



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