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U.S.S. LENAWEE
(APA-195)LEAPING LENA
Click to view crew list
USS LENAWEE (APA-195 ) - a Haskell-class attack transport
In Commission 1944 to 1946APA-195 Deployments - Major Events
Add a APA-195 Shellback Initiation | Add a APA-195 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MAY | 1944 | - | Keel Date: 26 MAY 1944 at Kaiser Shipbuilding | ||
SEP | 1944 | - | Launch Date: 11 SEP 1944 | ||
OCT | 1944 | - | Commissioned: 11 OCT 1944 | ||
NOV | 1944 | - | NOV | 1944 | depart San Francisco 26 Nov. 1944 |
DEC | 1944 | - | JAN | 1945 | Amphibious training in Hawaii Dec. 1944 - Jan. 1945 |
JAN | 1945 | - | JAN | 1945 | Depart Hawaii 27 Jan. 1945 |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | Saipan Island |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | Iwo Jima - landing troops - 19 Feb. 1945 |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | Iwo Jima |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | Eniwetok in Marshall Islands |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | Depart Iwo Jima for Guam on 27 Feb. 1945 |
FEB | 1945 | - | FEB | 1945 | 1 Feb. 1945 - crossed 180th meridian - Order of Golden Dragon |
MAR | 1945 | - | Shellback Initiation - 14 MAR 1945 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1945 | - | Shellback Initiation - 9 MAR 1945 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1945 | - | MAR | 1945 | Solomon Islands - New Hebrides (Espiritu Santo) - Ulithi Island |
APR | 1945 | - | APR | 1945 | Okinawa invasion landing troops - 9 to 14 Apr. 1945 |
MAY | 1945 | - | AUG | 1945 | Phillipine Islands |
SEP | 1945 | - | SEP | 1945 | Tokyo Bay - Japan surrenders - 2 Sept. 1945 |
OCT | 1945 | - | OCT | 1945 | Arrive southern California - 31 Oct. 1945 |
SEP | 1950 | - | SEP | 1950 | Recommisioned |
JAN | 1956 | - | FEB | 1956 | OPERATION COWLEX |
JAN | 1956 | - | JAN | 1956 | cowlex |
JUN | 1959 | - | Shellback Initiation - 16 JUN 1959 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1959 | - | Shellback Initiation - 18 JUN 1959 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1960 | - | JAN | 1964 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1962 | - | JAN | 1963 | West Pac-Indian Ocean |
JAN | 1962 | - | DEC | 1962 | West Pac |
JAN | 1962 | - | JAN | 1962 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1962 | - | JUL | 1962 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1963 | - | OCT | 1963 | West Pac |
AUG | 1963 | - | SEP | 1963 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1963 | - | SEP | 1963 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1963 | - | SEP | 1963 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
OCT | 1964 | - | OCT | 1966 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
NOV | 1964 | - | JUN | 1965 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1965 | - | APR | 1965 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1966 | - | SEP | 1967 | West Pac |
JUN | 1967 | - | Decommissioned: 20 JUN 1967 |
APA-195 General Specifications
Class: Haskell-class attack transport
Named for: Lenawee County
Complement: 56 Officers and 480 Enlisted
Displacement: 6873 tons
Length: 455 feet
Beam: 62 feet
Flank Speed: 17 knots
Final Disposition: Scrapped 1975
USS LENAWEE (APA-195)
Lenawee (APA-195) was laid down 26 May 1944 by Kaiser Shipbulding
Co.
Vancouver
Wash.
under Maritime Commission contract; launched 11 September
1944; sponsored by Mrs. Olaf Haugen; and commissioned 11 October 1944
Comdr.
Carson R. Miller in command.
Built to transport assault troops to hostile shores
Lenawee picked
up her complement of landing craft at San Francisco and departed 26 November
1944 for the Pacific theater. Following amphibious training in the Hawaiian
Islands
she sailed 27 January 1945 for Saipan. In the Marianas the final
rehearsals for her entrance into the battle zone were held
and 1
503 troops
of the 5th marines and the 67th Naval Construction Battalion embarked. After
a 3-day voyage
she arrived Iwo Jima on D-Day 19 February; her boats helped
place the first wave of marines ashore before debarking her own troops 3
days later. Withdrawn on the 27th
she retired to Guam to discharge marine
casualties and perpare for the final large-scale amphibious operation of
World War II.
Sailing south to Espiritu Santo
she embarked over 1
000 troops of the Army
27th Division to reinforce the Okinawa invasion forces. Landing troops and
cargo each day and retiring to open sea each night
she suffered no damage
from kamikaze attacks during the stay in the area 9 to 14 April.
As part of Commodore J.B. McGovern's Transport Squadron 16
she transported
troops from the Philippines to Japan and was present in Tokyo Bay with 1
135
troops of the 1st Cavalry when the Japanese surrendered 2 September. Returning
to her home port
San Francisco
31 October
Lenawee made two "Magic
Carpet" voyages to the western Pacific before decommissioning at Stockton
Calif.
3 August 1946
and entering the Reserve Fleet.
The outbreak of the Korean war caused her to recommission 30 September 1950
Capt. E.M. Brown in comand. With San Diego as her home port
she has operated
part of each year
except 1952 and 1956
in the Far East. Her first voyage
began 22 March 1951 when when she departed for Yokosuka
Japan. Operating
mainly among the Japanese Islands
she twice transported men and supplies
to the Korean theater before returning home 27 November. Again in May of
1953 Lewanee returned to transport duties in Korean waters and was
at Inchon in July when the final truce was signed.
The Chinese offshore islands and Vietnam proved to be the new crisis areas
in the Far East. Following a period of amphibious training early in December
1954 with Korean marines
Lewanee joined in the evacuation of Chinese
Nationalist civilians and troops from the Tachen Islands to Formosa
on
her last trip carrying U.S. Ambassador to China Karl L. Ranking for a first
hand observation.
Even without such crises
the Navy never loses its alertness
continually
training for any eventuality. Each year amphibious operations were held
with marines either off the California coast
in the Hawaiians
or elsewhere
in the Pacific. Joint exercises were also held with Philippine troops in
1957
with British forces off Borneo in 1959
with Korean marines in a cold
weather operation in 1962
and in 1965 with units of the Royal Thailand
Navy.
Beginning in 1963 the South China Sea became a regular scene of operation
for Lenawee. Following the North Vietnamese PT boat attack on Maddox
and Turner Joy in August 1964
she prepared for her 10th Far Eastern
tours since recommissioning. The people-to-people project was not neglected
as a result of this new crisis
for the ship carried 10
000 pounds of textbooks
and medical supplies to the Philippines and Vietnam after she departed San
Diego 7 November 1964. With TF 76
she stood-by laden with marines in the
South China Sea from12 December until 10 April 1965
when 3d Division Marines
were landed at Da Nang. Five days later her boats landed men of the 4th
Marines at Hue. Reloading at Okinawa Lenawee returned to debark additional
troops of the 4th marines in an assualt landing at Chu Lai 7 May. On the
24th she brought 2
001 tons of ammunition to these same men. One month later
she was en route for a short stay in her home port. On 9 August 1965 she
departed California with Battalion Landing Team 1/1 on the first nonstop
voyage made by an attack trasnport direct to Da Nang
arriving the 28th.
Returning to San Diego 28 October
Lenawee spent the remainder of
the year and the first 8 months of 1966 off the west coast. She conducted
type training and participated in various amphibious exercises until departing
on her last deployment 4 September 1966.
Lenawee carried marines to Okinawa
successfuly weathering typhoon
"Ida" on the way; then
after a stop in Japan
transported Republic
of Korean troops from Pusan to Da Nang. She ferried U.S. servicemen from
Okinawa to Vietnam and back in December
before returning to the west coast
arrivng at San Diego 8 January 1967 to begin preparations for inactivation.
Lenawee decommissioned 20 June 1967
was transferred to the Maritime
Administration on 23 April 1968
and was struck from the Navy list 30 June
1968. She is presently berthed in the Maritime Administration Reserve Fleet
at Suisan Bay
Calif.
Lenawee received two battle stars for World War II service and three
for Korean service.
[Note: The above USS LENAWEE (APA-195) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS LENAWEE (APA-195) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]