USS ''Clinton'' (APA/LPA-144) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was sunk as a target in 1984.

History

''Clinton'' was launched 29 November 1944 by California Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. L. N. Green; transferred to the Navy 1 February 1945; converted at U.S. Naval Station,

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

; and commissioned 1 February 1945. ''Clinton'' cleared San Francisco, California, 17 April 1945 and sailed to land Marine replacement troops and equipment on Okinawa between 27 and 31 May. She transferred battle casualties to Guam where she embarked ground forces of the 7th Bomber Command for transportation to Okinawa, arriving 2 July. When she sailed 6 days later she was carrying over 1,000 Okinawan and Korean

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

for internment in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. ''Clinton'' cleared Honolulu 5 August carrying replacement troops 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 ...

. She sailed on to Manila to embark Army occupation troops whom she landed at

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China, 11 October 1945. Arriving at Haiphong, French Indo-China, 26 October, she loaded Chinese troops and equipment and carried them to

Chinwangtao Qinhuangdao (; ) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population during the 2020 national ...

and

Taku Taku may refer to: Places North America * the Taku River, in Alaska and British Columbia ** Fort Taku, also known as Fort Durham and as Taku, a former fort of the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth of the Taku River ** the Taku Glacier, in Ala ...

for the reoccupation of northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Based on an anecdotal description of one of its crew members, the ship may have also been assigned to transport troops to Yokohama to assist in the post-war occupation there. Assigned to "

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 ...

" duty, ''Clinton'' embarked homeward-bound servicemen at Manila and sailed 28 November for San Francisco, California, arriving 18 December. She continued to the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

, arriving at

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 ...

, 2 February 1946.

Decommissioning and fate

''Clinton'' was decommissioned 2 May 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 1 October 1958. She was redesignated as an Amphibious Transport (LPA-144) on 1 January 1969. Withdrawn from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 9 November 1983, the ex-''Clinton'' was sunk as a fleet exercise target off the Virginia Capes, 1 August 1984.

Awards

''Clinton'' received one battle star for World War II service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive - USS ''Clinton'' (APA/LPA-144)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton (APA-144) Victory ships Ships built in Los Angeles Haskell-class attack transports Clinton County, Illinois Clinton County, Indiana Clinton County, Iowa Clinton County, Kentucky Clinton County, Michigan Clinton County, Missouri Clinton County, New York Clinton County, Ohio Clinton County, Pennsylvania World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States 1944 ships