USS ''Queens'' (APA-103) was a
''Windsor''-class attack transport that served with the
US Navy during
World War II. She was commissioned late in the war and initially assigned to transport duties; consequently she did not take part in any combat operations.
''Queens'' was named after
Queens, a
borough in New York City. She was laid down 2 March 1944 by
Bethlehem Steel at
Sparrows Point, Maryland; launched 12 September 1944; acquired by the Navy from the
Maritime Commission on loan charter 16 December 1944; and commissioned 16 December 1944.
World War II
Following shakedown and amphibious training in
Chesapeake Bay, ''Queens'' reported for duty at Queens, New York, to Commander, Task Force 29, 15 January 1945. Sailing via
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 ...
and the
Panama Canal, she arrived
Pearl Harbor 7 February. After training, she departed Pearl Harbor 2 March, carrying 1,250 Army and Navy troops.
Arriving via
Eniwetok, she debarked troops at
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
26 March. She began medical treatment for Iwo Jima casualties 30 March. Departing Iwo Jima 12 April with 1,500 Marines, she proceeded via
Guam, Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor to
Hilo, Hawaii
Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement i ...
, where she debarked troops 25 April.
Following amphibious training, she left Pearl Harbor for San Francisco 23 May, and proceeded to
Everett, Washington, for repairs. Sailing back to action via Pearl Harbor, she delivered troops and cargo to
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
11 July. After steaming non-stop from Saipan to San Francisco, arriving 25 July, she delivered troops to Pearl Harbor 11 August.
After hostilities
Loaded with 5th Amphibious personnel, she debarked occupation troops at
Sasebo, Japan, 22 September, and then embarked Army infantrymen in the
Philippines, before returning to the United States.
Decommission
Assigned to inactive status in September 1945, ''Queens'' arrived Norfolk on 29 April 1946, decommissioned 10 June, and was redelivered to the
War Shipping Administration 11 June. She was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register 19 June 1946.
Postwar career
''Queens'' was converted to Maritime Commission hull type P1-S1-DR1 in November 1947. She was purchased by
American Export Lines, 22 November 1948 and renamed ''Excambion''. On 17 March 1959, ''Excambion'' was returned to the
Maritime Administration under a trade-in program. She was then laid up in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet,
Hudson River Group from 20 April 1959.
The ship was loaned to the
Texas Maritime Academy 26 April 1965, for service as a merchant marine officer training ship and renamed
USTS ''Texas Clipper''. She continued serving in this role for the next thirty years, until being sunk as an artificial reef on 17 November 2007, seventeen miles off
South Padre Island, Texas.
References
*
APA-103 ''Queens'' Navsource Online.
External links
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department videodocumenting the sinking of
USTS ''Texas Clipper'' as an artificial reef.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queens (APA-103)
Windsor-class attack transports
Type C3-S-A3 ships of the United States Navy
Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland
1944 ships
World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
USS Queens APA-103
Ships of American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines