The 337th Harbor Craft Company trained at Camp Gordon Johnston and were deployed to Europe.
The Danube River Branch of the Inland Waterways Division was established
at Linz, Austria, on 27 May 1945. Twodays later the 337th Harbor Craft Company arrived and began functioning. A major responsibility of this branch was to take charge of a captured enemy fleet, the so-called Danube Navy. For the time being it was used mostly for the movement of essential military and civilian supplies.
However, two of the captured vessels provided daily pleasure cruises for U.S. Army
personnel, and other craft were employed to repatriate displaced persons. “The Transportation Corps: Overseas Operations,” by Joseph Bykofsky and Harold Larson (1990).
We have the letters and photos of one soldier, Joseph L’Abbe, who describes the company taking command of the vessel Hungaria. See his story at the Tribute to the Veteran tab here.
