USS ''Rockingham'' (APA/LPA-229) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. She was scrapped in 1979.

History

''Rockingham'' was laid down as Victory ship 11 September 1944 by

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 ...

Corp., Vancouver, Washington; launched 1 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Lynn Norman Carlson; acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on a loan-charter basis and commissioned at

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

, 22 November 1944.

World War II

Following trials at Seattle, Washington, and shakedown off San Pedro, California, ''Rockingham'' reported to the U.S. Pacific Fleet 30 December 1944. After

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

training off the southern California coast, she was underway on 16 February 1945 from San Diego, California, with cargo for Pearl Harbor. Following further training exercises 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 steamed 10 March for 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 ...

with over a thousand U.S. Army men. Operating 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 ...

until 15 April, she departed

with over 1,200 troops and officers for Ulithi and Okinawa.

Battle of Okinawa

On 26 April she debarked her troops at Okinawa. On 27 April, ''Rockingham'' experienced the first of many enemy air attacks, witnessing the sinking by a suicide Kamikaze plane of nearby

SS Canada Victory The SS ''Canada Victory'' was one of 531 Victory ships built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on January 12, 1944, and was completed on February 28, 1944. The s ...

. The next morning, ''Rockingham'' joined in splashing a kamikaze. On 1 May ''Rockingham'' sent boats to assist , hit and badly damaged by a suicide plane, taking on board 55 casualties. On 4 May she got underway in convoy for Ulithi, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco. There she loaded over 1,300 troops and got underway 6 June for Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Manila where she debarked her passengers.

Post-war

Returning to San Francisco, California, 28 July she loaded some 1,600 Army troops and got underway on 14 August, the first U.S. naval vessel to leave

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 ...

following the announcement of peace. She proceeded to Eniwetok, Ulithi and Manila where she debarked her troops. Embarking 1,500 new Army troops there, she got underway 17 September for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After unloading troops on the

Tokyo Plain Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, she proceeded to Leyte and Samar to pick up veterans and returned to San Francisco, 5 November. She then made another "

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 ...

" run to the Philippines reaching Los Angeles, California, 23 December.

Operation Crossroads

Remaining on the U.S. West Coast until 11 March, she steamed for Eniwetok and Kwajalein to participate in the Joint Task Force 1

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

tests. Returning to San Francisco by way of Pearl Harbor 29 April, she was back at Pearl on 14 May. Proceeding on to Kwajalein and Bikini Atoll where she arrived 1 June, she returned to Pearl Harbor briefly 11 June, then steamed back to Bikini and Kwajalein before finally steaming for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, where she arrived 12 September 1946.Navsource, USS Rockingham
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Decommissioning and fate

She was detached from Operation Crossroads, 14 September 1946; and, following radiological clearance, reported to the

U.S. 19th Fleet The United States Navy Caretaker (military), maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep t ...

5 December 1946. She was placed out of commission in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

at San Francisco 17 March 1947. The Commander,

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

Group, accepted custody of ''Rockingham'' from the Commander, San Francisco Group, 18 June 1953. She was transferred to the Maritime Administration at

, 26 September 1958 and struck from the Navy list 1 October 1958. She was scrapped by Don Kur Steel Corporation of South Korea. Removed from Maritime Administration records 19 November 1979.

Awards

''Rockingham'' earned one battle star for World War II service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive - APA/LPA-229 ''Rockingham''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockingham (APA-229) Haskell-class attack transports Rockingham County, New Hampshire Rockingham County, North Carolina Rockingham County, Virginia World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Troop ships Ships built in Vancouver, Washington 1944 ships