USS Mellette (APA-156)
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USS ''Mellette'' (APA-156) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1955. She was scrapped in 1988.


History

''Mellette'' was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5 and was named after Mellette County, South Dakota, United States. She was launched by
Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was a World War II emergency shipyard located along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. The shipyard built nearly 600 Liberty and Victory ships between 1941 and 1945 under the Emergency Shi ...
, Portland, Oregon, 4 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Clarissa Bickford; acquired from the Maritime Commission on a loan‑charter basis; and commissioned 27 September 1944.


World War II

In November 1944, ''Mellette'' followed a San Pedro shakedown cruise with a voyage to 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 ...
for training operations. She conducted amphibious troop, gunnery, and tactical exercises off
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
into January 1945. On 27 January she joined TG 51.1 and got underway for
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. ...
. With units of the
4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re-fo ...
embarked, she steamed west, via Eniwetok and
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 ...
, arriving off the
Volcano Islands The or are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop ...
to participate in the initial assault 19 February. She remained off the eastern beaches of Iwo Jima for the next 6 days, unloading supplies and taking on casualties. On the 25th she sailed for Saipan where she disembarked her wounded passengers and began preparations for the upcoming Okinawa campaign. Through the next month ''Mellette'' trained off Tinian's western beaches with TG 51.2 and on 27 March weighed anchor and headed for the Ryukyus. On 1 April she was off Okinawa and at 0631 commenced disembarking units of the
2d Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...
in diversionary landings along the island's southeastern coast. Her mission completed by mid‑morning, she reembarked her Marines and sailed to the main assault area to stand by until needed. There she remained until ordered back to Saipan on the 11th. She disembarked the Marines at Saipan on the 14th and remained there until 4 June when she began carrying men and cargo among 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 ...
and Solomons. In July she carried reinforcements, the Army's
24th Infantry Regiment The 24th Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and since 1995. Before its original dissolution in 1951, it was primarily made up of African-American soldiers. History The 24th Infantry Regiment (o ...
, to
Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...
. Back at Saipan when the
Japanese capitulation The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Nav ...
was announced, 15 August, ''Mellette'' immediately took on men of the
6th Marine Division The 6th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps World War II infantry division formed in September 1944. During the invasion of Okinawa it saw combat at Yae-Take and Sugar Loaf Hill and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. The 6 ...
and sailed for
Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
. Arriving with the first wave of occupation troops, she disembarked the Marines at Yokosuka Naval Base on the 30th, witnessed official surrender in Tokyo Bay 2 September, and then returned to Saipan to take on men of the 2d Marine Division for transportation to Nagasaki. Next assigned to “Magic Carpet” duty, she completed two voyages between the western Pacific and Seattle before 21 January 1946 when she got underway for the
east coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...
and inactivation. 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 ...
, 3 February, she decommissioned 25 June and entered 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 ...
at Yorktown, Virginia.


Cold War

With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, ''Mellette'' was reactivated, recommissioning 18 October 1950. For the next 4 years she operated primarily along the east coast, participating in fleet operations and exercises from Nova Scotia to the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. During that period she served with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean 8 September 1953 to 4 February 1954.


Fate

She decommissioned 18 June 1955 and joined the
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Berthed at Charleston for the next 5 years, she was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in June 1960. Struck from the Naval Register 1 July 1960, she has remained berthed with the James River, Virginia group into 1969. She was sold to Chi Shun Hua Steel Co. Ltd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan for scrapping on 3 June 1988.


Awards

''Mellette'' received two battle stars for World War II service.


References


Further reading


"Transport to Hell"
by David Susskind, monograph relating to the ''Mellette''s operations at Iwo Jima, held at the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California 94305-6010


External links


Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellette (Apa-156) Haskell-class attack transports Mellette County, South Dakota World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Portland, Oregon 1944 ships