US Maritime Commission buying former Munson Line ships according to the Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 22 February 1939

An item dated Washington 21 February reported that the US Maritime Commission transferred to the Department of War the Pan-America and the Western World formerly owned by the Munson Lines (1) to be used as troop transports. The commission also bought the steam ships American Legion and Southern Cross van the bankrupt Munson Lines.

The Munson Steamship Line existed between 1899 and 1937 (bankrupt) and on 13 March 1939 ended and was active in the Atlantic Ocean between the USA and the Caribbean/South America. The four mentioned ships were so-called type 535 class ships handed over to the company by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munson_Line. The website http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ap-7.htmsupplied more details about the 535 feet class. This were steel-hulled twin screw passenger/cargo ships with a gross tonnage of around 14,000 tons and accommodation for around 550 passengers of which the building was ordered by the USSB in or just after the end of the First World War using an army troop transport design. The four ships purchased by the Munson Lines were very luxury passenger ships. The Southern Cross became the USS Wharton, the Pan American USS Hunter Liggett, the American Legion retained her name and the Western World became the USS Leonard Wood. Of all these four ships are individually pages via en.wikepedia.org available.