USS ''Rawlins'' (APA-226) was a in service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1987.

History

''Rawlins'' was named after

Rawlins County, Kansas Rawlins County (standard abbreviation: RA) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,561. The largest city and county seat is Atwood. It was named after Union Civil War General John Aar ...

. She was built under

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

contract (MCV hull 672), was laid down by

Kaiser Shipbuilding The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaise ...

of Vancouver, Washington on 10 August 1944, launched 21 October 1944, and delivered to the Maritime Commission 10 November 1941. She was acquired by the Navy on loan-charter basis and commissioned 11 November 1944, Comdr. C. S. Beightler in command.

World War II

Following shakedown and training off the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

coast ''Rawlins'' put into San Francisco for loading and routing to

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

ports. On 16 January 1945, she sailed for

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

with miscellaneous cargo and Army replacement units. After delivery to Nouméa, she continued on to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, arriving 8 February to join TransRon 18, then rehearsing for

Operation Iceberg Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the assault on

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Invasion of Okinawa

On 14 March ''Rawlins'', with 1st Marine Division units embarked, got underway for

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

for final logistics and on 27 March sailed for the Hagushi beaches on Okinawa. Arriving 1 April she remained until the 5th then retired 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 ...

, whence she continued east to San Francisco. In July she returned to Okinawa with reinforcements, then, in early August, carried fresh troops to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

from the

east coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

Post-war

After the cessation of hostilities, ''Rawlins'' ferried occupation troops to Japan, then at the end of October was assigned to transport Army troops from the Philippines to San Francisco. On 27 July 1946 she terminated her last

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 ships ...

run at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, then swung south, transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, and on 5 August arrived at Norfolk for inactivation.

Decommissioning and fate

Navy owned as of 26 May 1946, ''Rawlins'' decommissioned 15 November 1946 and was berthed at Norfolk as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. There for the next 12 years, ''Rawlins'' was transferred to the Maritime Administration 19 September 1958 and her name was struck from the Navy List 1 October 1958. She was sold for scrap in August 1987.

Awards

''Rawlins'' received one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for World War II service.

References

External links

APA-226 ''Rawlins''
Navsource Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins (APA-226) Haskell-class attack transports Rawlins County, Kansas World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Troop ships Ships built in Vancouver, Washington 1944 ships