The main cabin class public rooms, including a grand salon, library, palm court, verandah café, and open recreation or dance space aft, were on the promenade deck.

[9] Beginning in August 1932 Manhattan operated the New York – Hamburg route, one she would continue to serve with only one short break until December 1939, when President Roosevelt invoked the Neutrality Act against Germany.

[citation needed] Travel writer Douglas Ward claims in his book Berlitz Guide to Cruising that the alcoholic cocktail "Manhattan" was named after the ship; however, there is little evidence for confirmation.

[11] On 22 March 1939 passengers embarking on Manhattan in Hamburg included 88 unaccompanied children who were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

On 12 July 1940, she transported passengers fleeing Europe from Lisbon to New York City; among them was Eugene Bullard, African-American combat pilot in World War I.

[13] On 12 January 1941, while in coastal service on the Atlantic seaboard, Manhattan ran aground 9 nmi (17 km)[clarification needed] north of Palm Beach and was re-floated 22 days later with help from tugs after the ship was lightened.

Converted to a troop transport at Brooklyn, New York by the Robins Drydock Company, her costly furnishings and trappings of a luxury ocean liner were carefully removed and stored for future use.

The Atlantic Conference was held on August 9, 1941, in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt.

Besides the “official” agenda, Churchill hoped to obtain considerable assistance from the US, but the American President had his political hands tied.

On September 5 the President assured the British leader that six vessels would be provided to carry twenty thousand troops and would be escorted by the American Navy.[relevant?]

The chief of Naval Operations ordered troop ships divisions seventeen and nineteen, on 26 September 1941, to prepare their vessels for approximately six months at sea.

In addition to the two American ships, Wakefield and West Point, three British transports – Duchess of Bedford, Empress of Japan, and Empire Star – made up the remainder of the convoy.

[20][21] On 29 January 1942, Convoy BM 11 arrived at Singapore to disembark troops doomed later to capture by the Japanese upon the fall of the city in the following month.

[14] On 30 January 1942, Wakefield commenced fueling at Keppel Harbour for the return voyage and awaited the arrival of some 400 British women and children who were being evacuated to Ceylon.

Unhampered by anti-aircraft fire or British fighter planes, the enemy bombers droned overhead and released a brief rain of bombs on the waterfront.

[22][note 1] One of the features of the ship as the liner Manhattan had been the lavish use of rare hardwood panels, moldings and finishings in passenger spaces.

Steaming home via Cape Town, the transport reached New York on 23 March and then proceeded to Philadelphia for permanent repairs.

[14] Underway on 11 May 1942 for Hampton Roads, Wakefield arrived at Norfolk, Virginia two days later to load cargo in preparation for Naval Transportation Service Operating Plan Lone Wolf.

On 19 May 1942, she embarked 4,725 Marines and 309 Navy and Army passengers for transportation to the South Pacific and moved to Hampton Roads to form up with a convoy bound for the Panama Canal Zone.

After proceeding via Halifax to Great Britain, Wakefield received orders routing her and three other transports to the River Clyde, where they arrived without incident.

[14] While the transport was en route to her destination, on the evening of 3 September 1942, fire broke out deep within the bowels of the ship and spread rapidly.

Ready service ammunition was thrown overboard to prevent detonation, code room publications were secured, and sick bay and brig inmates were released.

Mayo (DD-422) and Brooklyn (CL-40) closed to windward to take off passengers, a badly-burned officer, and members of the crew not needed to man pumps and hoses.

On 5 September 1942, towing operations commenced led by the Canadian salvage vessel Foundation Franklin and the big transport was put aground at McNab's Cove, near Halifax, at 1740 on the 8th.

When fire-fighting details arrived alongside to board and commence the mammoth operation, fires still burned in three holds and in the crew's quarters on two deck levels.

[16] While Wakefield was undergoing partial repairs in Halifax harbor, a torrential rainstorm threatened to fill the damaged ship with water and capsize her at her berth.

For the next 10 days, the salvagers engaged in extensive initial repair work – cleaning up the ship, pumping out debris, patching up holes, and preparing the vessel for her voyage to the Boston Navy Yard for complete rebuilding.