USS George Clymer (APA-27)
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USS ''George Clymer'' (APA-27) was an that saw service with the
US 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 ...
in four wars -
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 majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
and the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. It was named after
United States Founding Father The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
George Clymer George Clymer (March 16, 1739January 23, 1813) was an American politician, abolitionist and Founding Father of the United States, one of only six founders who signed both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. He was among the e ...
. ''George Clymer'' (AP-57) was laid down as ''African Planet'' under a
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 28 October 1940 by
Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 employees, the second largest ...
of
Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport– Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 2 ...
; launched 27 September 1941; renamed ''George Clymer'' 9 January 1942; acquired by the Navy 15 June 1942; and commissioned the same day.


World War II

''George Clymer'' sailed 21 June via Charleston to Norfolk, Virginia where she arrived 30 July for training in
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
. She embarked 1,400 men of the 9th Infantry Division and departed 23 October for French Morocco.


Invasion of French Morocco

After joining Rear Admiral Monroe Kelley's Northern Attack Group off the Moroccan coast 7 November, at midnight 8 November she debarked assault troops on special net-cutting and scouting missions against garrisons at Mehedia and the fortress Kasba. Just before dawn the first wave of troops hit the beach and encountered resistance from the
Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
. Enemy
shore batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...
fired on the assembled transports and straddled ''George Clymer'' before she opened the range. Hard fighting continued ashore until 11 November. ''George Clymer'' debarked troops, unloaded cargo, and treated casualties until 15 November when she sailed to Casablanca to complete offloading cargo. She departed for the United States the 17th, arriving at Norfolk 30 November.


Transfer to the Pacific

After embarking more than 1,300
Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...
s, ''George Clymer'' sailed 17 December for the
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 contine ...
. One of the first transports to serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific, she reached
Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...
, New Caledonia, 18 January 1943; sailed 23 January for the
Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, and arrived
Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...
,
New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
, 30 January. Redesignated (APA-27) on 1 February, she sailed in convoy 5 February for Guadalcanal, Solomons, where she arrived the 7th to debark reinforcements and embark casualties and
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
prisoners of war. During almost the next 9 months she sailed the Southwest Pacific, carrying cargo and rotating troops from bases in New Zealand, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and the Fijis to Guadalcanal. On 19 April she evacuated 38 Chinese and Fijian women and children, who had hidden from the Japanese for more than a year, from Guadalcanal and transported them to Nouméa.


Invasion of Bougainville

As flagship of Rear Admiral
Theodore Stark Wilkinson Theodore Stark "Ping" Wilkinson (December 22, 1888 – February 21, 1946) was a Vice-Admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. He also received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Veracruz, Mexico. Early life and career After ...
's 3rd Amphibious Force, ''George Clymer'' departed Guadalcanal 30 October for the invasion of Bougainville. Closing
Cape Torokina Cape Torokina is a promontory at the north end of Empress Augusta Bay, along the central part of the western coast of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea. This cape formed the southern end of the landing zone where I Marine Amphibious Corps perfor ...
1 November, she disembarked men of the
2nd Marine Raider Battalion The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare. " Edson's" Raiders of 1st Marine Raider Battalion and " Carlson's" ...
before joining other transports in a combined bombardment of enemy positions on Cape Torokina. She returned to Port Purvis on
Florida Island The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state (since 1978) in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The chain is composed of four larger islands and about ...
in the Solomons, on 3 November; and during the next two months she made three runs to Bougainville, carrying reinforcements and cargo from the Fijis and Guadalcanal.


Invasion of the Marianas

''George Clymer'' continued troop-carrying and supply runs in the Southwest Pacific until 4 June 1944 when she departed Guadalcanal for the invasion of the Marianas. Steaming via
Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civil ...
, she operated off Saipan from 17 to 30 June while serving as flagship of Rear Admiral
Lawrence Fairfax Reifsnider Lawrence Fairfax Reifsnider (November 26, 1887 – May 14, 1956) was an American football player and a vice admiral in the United States Navy. A native of Westminster, Maryland, Reifsnider attended the United States Naval Academy where he played ...
's Southern Attack Group. She reached
Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with i ...
4 July; departed 17 July for the assault against
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
- and arrived off Agat 21 July. After debarking assault troops, she served as receiving ship, boat pool tender, and medical station for the Southern Transport Group. She remained at Guam until 20 August; steamed via Saipan to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
; and arrived
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 R ...
31 August.


Invasion of Leyte

Underway again 15 September, ''George Clymer'' steamed via Eniwetok and Manus,
Admiralties The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...
, 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 ...
, where she landed nearly 1,000 troops at Dulag 21 October during the
battle of Leyte A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. She returned to Manus 28 October; and, following a troop and cargo-carrying mission to New Britain and back, she sailed 11 November for the United States and arrived
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
3 December for overhaul.


Invasion of Okinawa

Sailing 26 January 1945, she reached Guadalcanal 11 February and for more than a month trained for the
invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
. She departed
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 larges ...
, Carolines, in convoy 27 March; arrived off
Hagushi Hagushi bay is located in Yomitan, Okinawa. The bay is at the mouth of Hija River. The north side of the mouth of the river has a public beach called Toguchi Beach. World War II Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American suppli ...
1 April; then debarked troops and unloaded cargo before departing 5 April. Steaming via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, she arrived San Francisco 9 May. After conversion to a transport squadron and relief amphibious force flagship, she transported 1,200 Seabees to Pearl Harbor from 21 to 27 July. After returning to San Francisco 5 August with wounded veterans embarked, she sailed 12 August for the Philippines.


After hostilities

She reached Manila 7 September; embarked nearly 1,000 occupation troops of the 33rd Infantry Division; and transported them to Japan, arriving
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...
25 September. Between 3 and 21 October she made a similar voyage from Leyte to Japan; then, as part of the
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 ...
fleet, between 31 October and 14 November she carried more than 1,200 veterans from Saipan to San Francisco. Between 27 November and 28 December she cruised to Guam and Saipan and returned to
San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
with homebound troops.


Postwar service


Atomic bomb tests

Prior to the Korean War, ''George Clymer'' supported various naval operations in the Pacific. From 1 June to 20 August she served at
Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Seco ...
as flagship for Transport Division 11 during atomic bomb tests in the Marshall Islands.


Chinese Civil War

She conducted training operations along the Pacific coast until 15 December 1947 when she departed San Pedro for the Far East. Arriving Qingdao, China, 20 January 1948, for more than six months she operated along the Chinese coast supporting the Nationalist Chinese troops during the Chinese Civil War. She departed Qingdao 5 August; embarked troops at Guam, and transported them via 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 condui ...
to
Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hist ...
, where she arrived 17 September. ''George Clymer'' returned to San Diego 4 October, and during the next 19 months she operated off the coast of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, the West Coast, and in Hawaiian waters.


Korean War

After the invasion of
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
by
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n troops, she departed San Diego 14 July and carried units of the 5th Provisional Marine Brigade to
Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...
, South Korea, where she debarked them 2 August to help stem the Communist advance at
Masan Masan is an administrative region of Changwon, a city in the South Gyeongsang Province. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae. Masan was redistricted as two distric ...
. After returning to
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...
, Japan, 7 August, she embarked men of the
1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is th ...
at Kobe for the amphibious invasion at
Inchon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...
15 September. Following the successful landings, she served as amphibious control and hospital ship before returning to
Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
29 September with casualties. She returned to Inchon 8 October to embark marines, and on 17 October she sailed for
Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
, where she landed troops the 25th. Departing Wonsan 30 October, she steamed via Yokosuka to the United States and arrived San Diego 24 November. ''George Clymer'' departed San Diego 4 June 1951 and, after embarking troops at San Francisco, she sailed 6 June for the Far East, arriving Yokosuka 20 June. During the next 10 months she supported the effort to repel Communist aggression in Korea; participated in amphibious landings along the Korean coast; rotated troops between Japan and Korea, and cruised Far Eastern waters from the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...
to the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
to meet the demands of military forces in Asia. On 15 October she rescued nearly 500 survivors from a Japanese
merchantman 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 ...
caught during a
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
at Uku Shima, Japan. She departed Yokosuka 1 April 1952; returned to the United States for 7 months; then sailed from San Diego 12 November for a third deployment off Korea under the command of CAPT Edward J. O'Donnell. After reaching Yokosuka 29 November, she took part in troop-rotation runs between Korea and bases in Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines. On 27 July 1953, as the armistice which brought an uncertain peace to Korea was signed at
Panmunjom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korea ...
, she departed Yokosuka for the United States, arriving San Diego 22 August.


1950s

After the termination of hostilities in Korea, ''George Clymer'' deployed to the Far East on numerous occasions as an important unit of the
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 ...
. Capable of carrying combat-ready troops to any beach in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, she provided vital support to the Fleet's operations.


Vietnam War

In August 1964 she cruised the South China Sea in an advanced state of readiness following the Gulf of Tonkin incident. During the summer of 1965 she deployed to South Vietnam, where she participated in amphibious landings at Da Nang and
Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Với Khu Kinh T ...
. She participated in further Vietnamese operations in the spring and summer of 1966. She transported marines from Hawaii to Okinawa in June 1965 in preparation for the 7th Marines' August landing in Chu Lai. Soon after departure from Hawaii, she broke down earning the Marines' title of "Greasy George."


Decommission

USS ''George Clymer'' was decommissioned on 31 October 1967 at
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
. She was sold for scrapping to the National Metals & Steel Corporation on 26 July 1968, bringing to an end a long and distinguished 25-year career with the US Navy.


Awards

''George Clymer'' received five
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 ...
s for World War II service, seven for the Korean War and three for the Vietnam War.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:George Clymer (APA-27) Arthur Middleton-class attack transports Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1941 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Korean War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships named for Founding Fathers of the United States