USS Lenawee (APA-195)
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USS ''Lenawee'' (APA-195) was a in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1967. She was scrapped in 1975.


History

''Lenawee'' was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5 and was named after Lenawee County, Michigan, USA. She was laid down on 26 May 1944 by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, under Maritime Commission contract; launched on 11 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Olaf Haugen; and commissioned on 11 October 1944.


World War II service

Built to transport assault troops to hostile shores, ''Lenawee'' picked up her complement of
landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...
at San Francisco and departed 26 November 1944 for the
Pacific theater 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 ...
. Following amphibious training 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 ...
, she sailed 27 January 1945 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 ...
. In the
Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
the final rehearsals for her entrance into the battle zone were held, and 1,503 troops of the
5th Marines The 5th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "5th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls u ...
and the 62nd Naval Construction Battalion embarked. After a 3-day voyage, she arrived at
Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...
on
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
, 19 February; her boats helped place the first wave of Marines ashore before debarking her own troops 3 days later. Withdrawn on the 27th, she retired to Guam to discharge Marine casualties and prepare for the final large-scale amphibious operation of World War II. Sailing south to Espiritu Santo, she embarked over 1,000 troops of the Army 27th Division to reinforce the Okinawa invasion forces. Landing troops and cargo each day and retiring to open sea each night, she suffered no damage from kamikaze attacks during the stay in the area 9 to 14 April. As part of Commodore J. B. McGovern's
Transport Squadron 16 Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...
, she transported troops from the Philippines to Japan and was present in Tokyo Bay with 1,135 troops of the 1st Cavalry when the Japanese surrendered 2 September. Returning to her home port, San Francisco, 31 October, ''Lenawee'' made two "Magic Carpet" voyages to the western Pacific before decommissioning at
Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
, 3 August 1946, and entering the
Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...
.


Korean War

The outbreak of the Korean War caused her to recommission 30 September 1950. With San Diego as her home port, she operated part of each year, except 1952 and 1956, in the Far East. Her first voyage began 22 March 1951 when she departed for Yokosuka, Japan. Operating mainly among the Japanese Islands, she twice transported men and supplies to the Korean theater before returning home 27 November. Again in May 1953 ''Lenawee'' returned to transport duties in Korean waters and was at Inchon in July when the final
truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
was signed. The Chinese offshore islands and Vietnam proved to be the new crisis areas in the Far East. Following a period of amphibious training early in December 1954 with Korean marines, ''Lenawee'' joined in the evacuation of
Chinese Nationalist Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chin ...
civilians and troops from the Tachen Islands to
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
, on her last trip carrying
U.S. Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the country's diplomat, diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as Ambassador-at-large, ...
to China Karl L. Ranking for a first hand observation. Even without such crises, the Navy never loses its alertness, continually training for any eventuality. Each year amphibious operations were held with marines either off the California coast, in the Hawaiians, or elsewhere in the Pacific. Joint exercises were also held with Philippine troops in 1957, with British forces off Borneo in 1959, with Korean marines in a cold weather operation in 1962, and in 1965 with units of the Royal Thai Navy.


Collision with USS ''Wantuck''

In mid-August 1957, got underway from San Diego for Hawaii on the first leg of a voyage to Japan. She was about 180 nautical miles (333 kilometers) from San Diego on a moonless and starless night when at 0318 hours on 15 August 1957 ''Lenawee'' rammed her on the port side between the No.1 boiler room and No. 1 engine room, almost tearing ''Wantuck'' in half, the impact being powerful enough to bring her forward momentum to an immediate stop and shove her laterally to starboard. ''Wantuck'' suffered two men killed—one who drowned in the flooding engine room and another scalded by high-pressure steam—and five injured, all burned. The submarine rescue ship and fleet ocean tug came to ''Wantuck‍'' 's aid, while ''Lenawee'' took some of ''Wantuck‍''s injured men aboard and proceeded to Pearl Harbor. ''Wantuck'' arrived in San Diego under tow on the evening of 16 August 1957. Deemed not worth repairing, ''Wantuck'' was decommissioned at San Diego on 15 November 1957 and berthed there with the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 4 March 1958.


Vietnam War

Beginning in 1963 the South China Sea became a regular scene of operations for ''Lenawee''. Following the
Tonkin Gulf Resolution The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Southeast Asia Resolution, , was a joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. It is of historic significance because it gave U.S. pre ...
in August 1964, she prepared for her 10th Far Eastern tour since recommissioning. The people-to-people project was not neglected as a result of this new crisis, for the ship carried 10,000 pounds of textbooks and medical supplies to the Philippines and Vietnam after she departed San Diego 7 November 1964. With TF 76, she stood-by laden with marines in the South China Sea from 12 December until 10 April 1965, when 3rd Division Marines were landed at
Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
. Five days later, her boats landed men of the
4th Marines The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Mission Close with and destroy the enemy by fi ...
at Hue. Reloading at Okinawa, ''Lenawee'' returned to debark additional troops of the 4th Marines in an assault landing at Chu Lai 7 May. On the 24th she brought 2,001 tons of ammunition to these same men. One month later she was en route for a short stay in her home port. On 9 August 1965 she departed California with Battalion Landing Team 1/1 on the first nonstop voyage made by an attack transport direct to Da Nang, arriving the 28th. Returning to San Diego 28 October, ''Lenawee'' spent the remainder of the year and the first 8 months of 1966 off the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
. She conducted type training and participated in various amphibious exercises until departing on her last deployment 4 September 1966. ''Lenawee'' carried marines to Okinawa, successfully weathering typhoon "Ida" on the way; then, after a stop in Japan, transported Republic of Korea troops from Pusan to Da Nang. She ferried U.S. servicemen from Okinawa to Vietnam and back in December, before returning to the West Coast, arriving at San Diego 8 January 1967 to begin preparations for inactivation.


Fate

''Lenawee'' decommissioned 20 June 1967. She was berthed in the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California, on 29 June 1967. Title was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 23 April 1968, and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 30 June 1968. Ex-''Lenawee'' was sold for $129,089.78 to Nicolai Joffe Corp. for scrapping on 17 August 1975. At 1337 PDT, on 28 July 1975 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and sent to the breaker's yard.


Awards

''Lenawee'' received two battle stars for World War II service and three for Korean service.


References


External links


USS ''Lenawee'' (APA-195)
at NavSource Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenawee (APA-195) Haskell-class attack transports World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Lenawee County, Michigan Ships built in Vancouver, Washington 1944 ships