USS ''Pondera'' (APA-191) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas.

World War II service

''Pondera'' (''APA–191''), built under Maritime Commission contact (MCV hull 659), was laid down by the

Kaiser Shipbuilding The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaise ...

Co., Vancouver, Washington, 28 April 1944; launched 27 July 1944; sponsored by Miss Elinor C. Gottlieb; delivered to the Navy and commissioned 24 September 1944.

Landing Seabee’s and troops and their equipment on Okinawa

Following

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, ...

, ''Pondera'' remained in California waters, training pre-commissioning crews for APAs, until 23 January 1945. Two weeks of amphibious training followed and in February she departed San Francisco, California, for Hawaii. After further amphibious training she carried the 81st Construction Battalion to Okinawa, anchoring off Hagushi 26 April. Later shifting to

Nakagusuku Wan is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in ...

, she disembarked troops there 3–4 May and during the night assisted , damaged by a suicide boat. On the 8th she departed, with casualties embarked, 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 ...

, whence she sailed to San Francisco, California.

End-of-war "mopping-up" operations

She completed a second troop lift to the Far East, Leyte, in July, and was en route on her third transpacific run when the war ended. Arriving at Ulithi 25 August, she sailed to Guam, disembarked half of her troops there, then continued on to Okinawa to discharge the remainder. In mid-September she took on men of the XXIV Corps and on the 24th debarked them at Jinsen, Korea. In October she carried further elements of that Corps to Korea, then, after replenishing at Manila, joined TransRon 17, 8 November, at Hong Kong, to lift troops of the 8th Chinese Nationalist Army to

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

. Completing that mission 16 November, ''Pondera'' reported for

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 ...

duty and on 20 November arrived at San Diego, California, with units of the

5th Marine Division The 5th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps ground combat division which was activated on 11 November 1943 (officially activated on 21 January 1944) at Camp Pendleton, California during World War II. The 5th Division saw its first ...

. She completed her second and last "Magic Carpet" run at San Francisco 9 March 1946 and ten days later got underway for the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

and inactivation.

Post-war decommissioning

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 ...

, 6 April, she decommissioned and was transferred to the Maritime Commission 6 June 1946. Struck from the Navy List 19 June 1946, she was laid up in the James River, Virginia, berthing area, National Defense Reserve Fleet, where she remained into 1974 when she was sold for scrapping.

Military awards and honors

''Pondera'' earned one battle star during World War II.

References

External links

USS ''Pondera''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pondera (APA-191) Haskell-class attack transports Pondera County, Montana World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Troop ships Ships built in Vancouver, Washington 1944 ships