USS ''Lamar'' (APA-47) was a ''Bayfield''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service in 1948 and was scrapped in 1971.

History

''Lamar'' (''AP-92'') was reclassified ''APA-47'' on 1 February 1943; laid down 31 March 1943 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Mississippi, under a Maritime Commission contract; launched 28 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. James Oliver Eastland, wife of Senator Eastland of Mississippi; acquired by the Navy 9 November 1943; placed in ferry commission 10 November for transfer to Brooklyn, New York, decommissioned 22 November 1943 for conversion by Todd-Erie Basin, Brooklyn; and commissioned 6 April 1944.

Pacific War

After steaming to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, 16 to 17 April for shakedown, Lamar embarked 1,621 U.S. Marines, and departed 13 May for the Pacific Ocean. The attack transport reached Pearl Harbor 1 June, sailed for the U.S. West Coast 5 June, visited San Diego, and Seattle, Washington, and arrived Pearl Harbor 26 June to deploy troops to the

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. Departing in convoy 1 July, she steamed via Eniwetok to Guam, where she debarked 1,445 troops 21 July. After returning to Pearl Harbor 10 August, ''Lamar'' held landing rehearsals off

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

Island to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines. As flagship for

TransDiv TransDiv is the authorized abbreviation or acronym used by the U.S. Navy during World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast ...

38, she steamed to

Manus Manus may refer to: * Manus (anatomy), the zoological term for the distal portion of the forelimb of an animal (including the human hand) * ''Manus'' marriage, a type of marriage during Roman times Relating to locations around New Guinea * Man ...

, Admiralties, 15 September to 3 October and joined the

U.S. 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

. From 14 to 20 October she sailed in convoy to Leyte Gulf for the long-awaited reconquest of the Philippines. While debarking assault troops and unloading cargo at Dulag under cover of smoke, she fought off enemy air attacks, and on the 21st splashed a Japanese bomber. That day ''Lamar'' sailed for

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, New Guinea; arrived Hollandia 26 October; embarked troops at Biak and Mios Woendi; and returned to Leyte Gulf 18 November with reinforcements and cargo. She departed the same day, touched

, and reached Bougainville, Solomons, 1 December. She took on board troops and cargo before returning to Manus 21 December to prepare for the Luzon invasion. Sailing 31 December with task group TG 79.1, she entered

Lingayen Gulf The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...

9 January 1945 and began debarking combat troops. Despite frequent alerts and intermittent air attacks, the transport completed unloading the 11th and departed for Leyte, where she arrived 14 January. She returned to the western coast of Luzon 29 January to debark American engineers and troops at San Narciso. From 1 February to 27 March ''Lamar'' operated out of Leyte Gulf in preparation for Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. On 27 March she departed the Philippines with 1,366 assault troops embarked. Assigned to task group TG 55.1, she reached Okinawa 1 April and completed landing men and cargo the next day. She embarked battle wounded; transported them to Guam 4 to 9 April; then sailed the 10th for San Francisco, arriving 29 April.

Operation Magic Carpet

Departing San Francisco 22 May, ''Lamar'' deployed passengers and cargo to Pearl Harbor and Ulithi before reaching Guiuan, Samar, 23 June. From 27 June to 14 July she served as receiving ship for ServRon 10. After loading cargo at Guiuan, she steamed to Pearl Harbor 19 July to 1 August; discharged cargo; and departed the following day for San Francisco where she arrived the 9th. After repairs at Seattle, ''Lamar'' sailed 8 September for the

, reaching Guam 24 September. She discharged 1,517 military passengers, embarked 1,829 returning veterans, and steamed to San Diego, 28 September to 12 October. On the 28th she departed for Japan on "

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post- World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory s ...

" duty. Arriving Yokosuka 28 November, she embarked 1,810 passengers before sailing 1 December for Seattle, Washington, where she arrived the 14th via the North Pacific.

Decommissioning and fate

On 14 January 1946 ''Lamar'' departed Puget Sound for the

U.S. Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

, arriving New Orleans, Louisiana, 3 February. She proceeded to

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, 23 to 24 February, decommissioned 7 March, and was turned over to the Maritime Commission 3 July 1946. ''Lamar'' was purchased by the Luckenbach Steamship Corporation at

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

on 19 January 1949, for $55,713.00, and was renamed SS ''J.L. Luckenbach''. In July 1959, she was sold to Global Bulk Transportation Corporation and renamed SS ''Evergreen State''. On 27 May 1971, she was sold for scrapping in Taiwan to Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corporation.

Awards

''Lamar'' received five battle stars for World War II service.

References

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External links

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive – AP-92 / APA-47 Lamar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamar (APA-47) Bayfield-class attack transports Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1943 ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Lamar County, Alabama Lamar County, Georgia Lamar County, Mississippi Lamar County, Texas