USS ''Jerauld'' (APA-174) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1974.

History

''Jerauld'' was launched under Maritime Commission contract by Oregon Shipbuilding Co., Portland, Oregon, 3 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Gloria Dahlberg; acquired and commissioned at

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 ...

, 28 November 1944.

World War II

After undergoing shakedown off California, ''Jerauld'' sailed from Seattle, Washington, 5 February 1945 carrying Army flyers and civilian workers to Pearl Harbor. She arrived 16 February and began 4 weeks of amphibious exercises 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 ...

. The new attack transport sailed from Pearl Harbor 15 March with

U.S. marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

destined for Okinawa. En route she touched at the great American bases at Eniwetok and Ulithi, arriving Okinawa 17 April. She remained off the bitterly contested island for 5 days debarking a Marine antiaircraft battalion and undergoing frequent air attacks before sailing for

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 ...

22 April. ''Jerauld'' next steamed 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 ...

; and, after her arrival 10 May, she embarked troop units for redeployment to Guam and

. The ship departed Saipan 23 June for her second voyage to Okinawa, this time with Army Engineers needed for the construction of all-important airfields on the island. She remained off Okinawa from 27 June until 6 July when she sailed with more than 250 battle casualties destined for hospitals on

. Jerauld then proceeded to San Francisco, California, where she arrived 26 July. The battle-tried transport remained in the United States until after Japan's surrender, Sailing 16 August for the Philippines, she arrived Manila 6 September and embarked occupation troops. After stopping at

Lingayen Gulf The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...

for additional units she steamed to Wakayama 7 October to land occupation soldiers. The ship visited several Japanese ports in support of the operation and made another voyage to the Philippines for troops. She sailed from Nagoya 26 October, embarked returnees in the Philippines, and steamed by way of Pearl Harbor for San Diego, California. ''Jerauld'' then made one additional voyage to the Philippines as part of

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 ...

, bringing many combat troops back to the United States.

Decommissioning and fate

''Jerauld'' then sailed from San Francisco 20 February 1946 via the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

for

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 ...

. Arriving 11 March, she decommissioned 6 May, was returned to the Maritime Commission, and was placed in the Maritime Commission's National Defense Reserve Fleet in the James River, Virginia, where she remained. ''Jerauld'' was struck from the Navy List on 21 May 1946 and finally sold for scrapping 17 May 1974 to Intershitra Corporation, Netherlands, for $771,500.

Awards

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

References

External links

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive - APA-174 Jerauld
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerauld World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Haskell-class attack transports Jerauld County, South Dakota Ships built in Portland, Oregon 1944 ships