Good news for you.
To obtain a wartime photograph of WILLIAM H. ASHLEY, please see this web page: http://usmm.org/photosource.html. I refer you in particular to Mr. Hultgren, the second source on the list, as his collection specializes in Liberty ships. I know enough about his collection to be able to say that he apparently has an image of this ship. My understanding is that Mr. Hultgren charges $15 for an 8x10 photograph. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report he was still actively managing his collection. He does not have e-mail or Internet capability, so you will need to call him or send him a letter.
As to the ship itself, WILLIAM H. ASHLEY was constructed by the Oregon Shipbuilding Company, Portland, Oregon, in 24 days in September-October 1943. She survived the war and was turned over to the U.S. Navy in 1956, and scrapped in 1972 in Philadelphia. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/koregon.htm and scroll to hull number 778. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsW.html#WilDH and scroll to the name of the ship. The ship was named after William H. Ashley (1778-1838), a fur trader, explorer and congressman. He was a leader in the fur trade in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, and served as a Congressman from Missouri (1831-1837).
Additionally, I discovered that Henry Hammond Beasley was a seaman 1st class (S1/c) in a 26-man Armed Guard unit aboard WILLIAM H. ASHLEY from February 7, 1945, through at least October 23, 1945. During that period WILLIAM H. ASHLEY made a lengthy Pacific voyage, departing San Francisco on or about February 7, 1945. I am unable to reconstruct the entire voyage including all ports but the ship apparently stopped (in some order) at least in Manila, Philippines; Hollandia, New Guinea; and Noumea, New Caledonia, before returning to Seattle on October 23, 1945. With World War II well over by then (Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945), there was no need for a continued Armed Guard presence on merchant ships and your grandfather may have left the ship at that time. However, skeleton crews of Armed Guard personnel remained aboard ships to maintain the guns until the weaponry was finally removed and returned to the Navy.
For your information, my source for the above information about your grandfather was www.ancestry.com, a subscription website more commonly used for genealogical research but which contains names of crew and passengers arriving in certain U.S. ports of entry following a foreign voyage.
Good luck. I hope this information is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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