USS ''Walsh'' (APD-111) was a

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 ...

high-speed transport High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the ...

in commission from 1945 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1968.

Namesake

Patrick Joseph Walsh was born on 19 January 1908 in

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. He accepted a commission in the

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as a

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, on 4 May 1942. He received instruction at the

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, Boston, Massachusetts, and later received more specialized training at the Armed Guard School at Little Creek,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, from 16 June 1942 to 22 July 1942. Walsh was Naval Armed Guard detachment commander aboard the

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...

SS ''Patrick J. Hurley'' in the

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on the night of 12 September 1942 when the stealthily surfaced and closed on the ''Patrick J. Hurley''. Undetected, ''U-512'' opened fire on ''Patrick J. Hurley'' with devastating effect. Walsh fell severely wounded in the initial shelling, taking

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in the

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. In spite of the

machine-gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

fire directed at his battle station Walsh remained at his post, though weak from loss of blood. He died of his wounds. He was posthumously awarded the

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and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

Construction and commissioning

''Walsh'' was laid down as the ''Rudderow''-class

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

USS ''Walsh'' (DE-601) on 27 February 1945 by

Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard The Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard of Hingham, Massachusetts, was a shipyard in the United States from 1941 until 1945. Located on Weymouth Back River, it was owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company and operated by the nearby Fore River Shipyard. ...

, Inc., at Hingham,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She was reclassified as a ''Crosley''-class

and redesignated APD-111 during construction, and was launched on 27 April 1945, sponsored by Mrs. John J. Walsh. ''Walsh'' was commissioned on 11 July 1945.

Service history

After

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out of Guantanamo Bay,

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, from 1 August 1945 to 29 August 1945, during which

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ended on 15 August 1945, ''Walsh'' visited

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, and then took part in

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experiments in the

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as part of Task Group 23.19. On 4 October 1945, she moved north for training exercises in company with

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

s out of Melville,

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. She later participated in

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festivities at

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, in late October 1945 before departing Portland on 30 October 1945 bound for

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, to begin the process of inactivation. At Philadelphia, ''Walsh'' secured her

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gear at the

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and received hull repairs. She departed Philadelphia on 13 November 1945 bound for

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, Virginia, and arrived at Norfolk on 14 November 1945. She then unloaded all

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and turned in registered

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s before proceeding on to

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Decommissioning and disposal

Decommissioned on 26 April 1946 at

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, Florida, ''Walsh'' berthed initially with the Florida Group of the

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there. Later, she was moved to the Texas Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, where she remained until stricken from the

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on 1 May 1966. She was sold for scrapping in July 1968.

References

*
NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive DE-601 / APD-111 Walsh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh (APD-111) Crosley-class high speed transports World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Hingham, Massachusetts 1945 ships