USS Missoula (APA-211)
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USS ''Missoula'' (APA-211) was a in service with the
United States 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 ...
from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1975.


History


Construction

''Missoula'' was a
Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slight ...
design, VC2-S-AP5. She was named after
Missoula County, Montana Missoula County is located in the State of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 117,922, making it Montana's third-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Missoula. The county was founded in 1860. Missoula Coun ...
, United States, and was the second ship to bear the name . The ship was laid down 20 June 1944, under
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 ...
(MARCOM) contract, MCV hull 559, by
Permanente Metals Corporation Permanente Metals Corporation (PMC) is best known for having managed the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California, owned by one of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser's many corporations, and also engaged in related corporate activities. These four ...
, Yard No. 2,
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.
; launched 6 September 1944; sponsored by the Harmonettes, a female vocal group; acquired by the Navy 27 October 1944; and commissioned at Richmond, the same day.


World War II

After
shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...
along the
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
coast, ''Missoula'' steamed from
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, 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 List of Ca ...
to
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 Re ...
6 to 12 December. She trained in
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 stat ...
an waters during the next 6 weeks; thence, with units of the 5th Marine Division embarked, she sailed 27 January 1945, for the scheduled invasion of Iwo Jima. Among her troops she carried the men who on two separate occasions raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during bitter fighting 23 February. Assigned to Transport Squadron 16, she steamed via
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 it ...
to the staging area at
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 ...
, where she completed final preparations for the invasion.


Invasion of Iwo Jima

''Missoula'' sortied with
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
Harry W. Hill’s TF 53 on 16 February. She reached the transport area off Beach Green 1 before dawn 19 February, lowered her landing boats, and at 07:25 began debarking troops for the assault. As
Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
stormed the beaches and began the struggle 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. ...
, ''Missoula'' sent ashore troops and cargo from her position about offshore. Late in the afternoon she departed the transport area for night cruising at sea; thence, she returned the following morning and resumed unloading operations. During the next 5 days she continued this pattern of operations.


=Raising the Flag on Mount Suribachi

= While operating in the transport area 23 February, she received the following message at 10:35: “American flag now flying on
Mount Suribachi is a -high mountain on the southwest end of Iwo Jima in the northwest Pacific Ocean under the administration of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The mountain's name derives from its shape, resembling a ''suribachi'' or grindin ...
Yama.” Three Marines from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, had raised the national colors from the summit of Mount Suribachi at 10:20. That flag, the first of two which flew from Mount Suribachi that day, the second flag was a larger replacement flag, had come from ''Missoula''. The 2nd Battalion adjutant, whose job it was to carry the flag, had brought the small set of colors from the attack transport during the invasion.


=Medical assistance – return to Saipan

= In addition, ''Missoula'' provided medical facilities for casualties of the fierce fighting ashore. Her four surgical teams treated 100 stretcher and ambulatory cases, 59 of whom were brought on board during the first day. After embarking a final group of casualties, she sailed in convoy for Saipan 25 February. The following morning one of the convoy escorts, , detected, depth-charged, and sank Japanese submarine ''I-370''. ''Missoula'' arrived Saipan 28 February; and, after debarking the wounded marines, she sailed for the
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 ...
with Transport Squadron 16 on 5 March.


Invasion of Okinawa

Steaming via
Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 18 ...
, ''Missoula'' reached
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 ...
15 March and there embarked 1,177
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
troops of the 27th Division. She departed with other transports 25 March, touched at
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 largest i ...
3 April, and arrived off the western beaches of
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
9 April. During the next 5 days she discharged men and supplies and embarked 143 casualties of the Okinawa campaign; thence, between 14 and 18 April she steamed to Saipan.


Training for invasion of Japan

For much of the next month ''Missoula'' operated out of Ulithi after which she headed for troop training exercises in 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 ...
. She arrived
Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
,
Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, 31 May, and during the closing weeks of the war against Japan, she took part in preparing Army troops for a possible amphibious invasion of Japan. Following the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
, the Japanese ended hostilities 15 August; thence, Missoula supported the movement of occupation troops into Japan.


Transporting troops to Japan

As part of TF 33, ''Missoula'' departed Subic Bay 27 August. She entered
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...
on the morning of 2 September and began debarking troops of the 1st Cavalry Division at 09:51. Less than an hour before in another part of the bay, the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, had signed the Instrument of Surrender on board , thus officially ending World War II. ''Missoula'' returned to the Philippines 4 to 11 September, and embarked additional occupation troops at Zamboanga and
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. Departing
Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Isl ...
22 September, she arrived Okinawa 25 September, and on 3 October, sailed for the
Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...
. Between 6 and 11 October, she debarked troops for the occupation of the rubble that was once
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
.


Operation Magic Carpet

She returned to Okinawa 13 October and joined in the mighty task of returning veterans of the Pacific campaigns to the United States. With 1,923 troops embarked, ''Missoula'' sailed 17 October, and arrived San Francisco 1 November. She departed on a second “Magic Carpet” run 21 November, and on 6 December, embarked 2,060 soldiers at Okinawa. She steamed to
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
, 8 to 21 December; thence, she returned to the western Pacific 21 January 1946, for further trooplift duty. She carried 692 men of the 2d Marine Air Wing from Okinawa 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 ...
early in February, embarked more than 2,000 veterans at Okinawa and
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 ...
later that month, and departed Guam for 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 ...
22 February. ''Missoula'' reached San Francisco 5 March, discharged her passengers, and completed her “Magic Carpet” duty. Assigned to the 19th Fleet 9 April, ''Missoula'' operated in the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
area during the next 5 months.


Decommissioning and fate

She decommissioned at
Port Chicago, California Port Chicago was a town on the southern banks of Suisun Bay, in Contra Costa County, California. It was located east-northeast of Martinez, at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m). It is best known as the site of a devastating explosion at its Naval M ...
, 13 September 1946 and entered the
Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy naval base, base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and s ...
at
Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the eas ...
. Her name was struck from the
Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...
1 October 1958. She transferred to the
Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...
the same day and was assigned to the
National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...
. She was berthed in Suisun Bay, California on 29 October 1958. On 5 March 1977, she was sold to American Ship Dismantlers, Inc., for $218,001, to be scrapped. At 11:15 PDT, on 8 March 1975 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and sent to the breaker's yard.


Awards

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


Notes

;Citations


Bibliography

Online resources * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Missoula (APA-211) Haskell-class attack transports World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Missoula County, Montana Ships built in Richmond, California 1944 ships Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island Group Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet