USS ''Ormsby'' (APA-49) was an ''Ormsby''-class

attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

that served 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 ...

from 1943 to 1946. She was subsequently sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1969.

History

''Ormsby'' (APA-49) was named after a county in Nevada.
DANFS Online. She was originally laid down by the Moore Dry Dock Company of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

on 21 July 1942 as SS ''Twilight''; authorized for acquisition as ''Ormsby'' AP-94 on 5 October 1942; launched 20 October 1942; reclassified APA-49 on 1 February 1943; acquired 10 March 1943; and commissioned 28 June 1943. Upon completion of her conversion and shakedown in July 1943, ''Ormsby'' sailed from

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 ...

en route to

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 ...

to load

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 ...

and cargo for

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 ...

. From Pearl she loaded more Marines, Seabees and equipment and departed 14 August for

Nukufetau Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has ...

in the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

Invasion of Tarawa

Continuing southward, she stopped in

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, and then sailed on to

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, arriving on 11 September. There she embarked Marines and carried out amphibious warfare training until the end of October. From Wellington, New Zealand ''Ormsby'' steamed via

Efate Efate (french: Éfaté) is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanu ...

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Gilbert Islands and landed her troops there for that historic battle on 20 November 1943. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 7 December she again loaded troops and supplies and conducted training through January 1944.

Invasions of Kwajalein and New Guinea

On 31 January ''Ormsby'' participated in another amphibious assault landing her troops at

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 ...

in the

Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...

. Following this operation, she moved on to Guadalcanal in February and trained Army units until 28 March, when she landed reinforcements at Bougainville and continued to

Milne Bay, New Guinea Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km² of land and 252,990 km² of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has ...

. In April she sailed to Buna, Finschafen and then to Aitape, New Guinea where on the 23rd army assault troops were landed. A reinforcement voyage to Aitape followed on 3 May.

Invasion of Guam

Returning to the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwest o ...

and Guadalcanal, ''Ormsby'' loaded Marines of the First Provisional Brigade, trained then in May, and landed them on

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 ...

21 July. While at Guam she suffered her only casualties of the war when one officer and an enlisted man were killed as a shell hit in the bow.

Invasions of Peleliu and Leyte

''Ormsby'' trained Marines of the famed

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 Guadalcanal prior to landing them at Pelelieu,

Palau Islands Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. Proceeding to Hollandia and loading Army units, she made another assault at

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

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 ...

on 20 October with a rerun on 14 November. In the latter part of November ''Ormsby'' was finally given a rest and she returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for availability. Leaving

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

behind, ''Ormsby'' with

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

s from

Port Hueneme Port Hueneme ( ; Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County lie within the city limits. P ...

set course for

, arriving on 11 April 1945 and then returning to Portland, Oregon on 22 May with a full load of returning service veterans.

After hostilities

Making another ''Magic Carpet'' run with veterans in June, ''Ormsby'' returned to

via

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the ...

and Saipan from Guam on 13 July. She departed San Francisco on 31 July en route to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

to lift members of the 43rd Division to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, arriving there on 13 September.

Transport missions

Weathering a typhoon she returned to Guam and embarked troops for Tsingtao, China participating in the occupation landings there. Underway on 17 October, ''Ormsby'' sailed first to Manila and then to

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

where she embarked the 62nd Chinese Army for Formosa. She landed the Chinese occupation forces at Port Saei on 18 November and sailed for Manila arriving 21 November. In December ''Ormsby'' made one more ''Magic Carpet'' voyage to Portland, Oregon, arriving on the 20th. This was her final passage after untiring war effort.

Decommissioning

''Ormsby'' decommissioned 15 March 1946 and was struck from the U.S.

Naval Register 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 autho ...

on 17 April 1946. She was delivered to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

on 16 May 1946.

Commercial service

''Ormsby'' was eventually acquired for commercial service by

United States Lines United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and al ...

and renamed SS ''American Producer''. In March 1969, ''American Producer'' was severely damaged after striking the

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

while outbound for Da Nang,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, with a cargo of bombs. Consequently, she was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in July 1969.

Awards

''Ormsby'' earned six

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 service in

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 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormsby (APA-49) Ormsby-class attack transports Ships built in Oakland, California 1942 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States