The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.
High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer.
Originally projected as a Rudderow-classdestroyer escort (DE-692), Wantuck (APD-125) was selected for completion to a modified design as a Crosley Class High-speed Transport (APD), designed for landing and supporting raiding parties while retaining a secondary, destroyer escort-like role of convoy escort.[1] She was laid down on 17 August 1944 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company. launched on 25 September 1944, sponsored by Miss Mary Wantuck, and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard at Boston, Massachusetts, on 30 December 1944, Lieutenant Commander Richard Bensen, USNR, in command.
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a 20-knot (23 mph) warship designed with endurance to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Kaibōkan were designed for a similar role in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces identified such warships as frigates, and that classification was widely accepted when the United States redesignated destroyer escorts as frigates (FF) in 1975. Destroyer escorts, frigates, and kaibōkan were mass-produced for World War II as a less expensive antisubmarine warfare alternative to fleet destroyers. Other similar warships include the 10 Kriegsmarine escort ships of the F-class and the two Amiral Murgescu-class vessels of the Romanian Navy.
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support. It may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Arriving at the scene of a major emergency with a well-ordered unit and intact command structure can be another motivation.
Quincy is the largest city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Metropolitan Boston and one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2014 was 93,397, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. Known as the "City of Presidents," Quincy is the birthplace of two U.S. presidents—John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams—as well as John Hancock, a President of the Continental Congress and the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.
World War II
Wantuck conducted shakedown training along the New England coast and then in the vicinity of Bermuda until 18 February 1945, when she arrived in Hampton Roads, Virginia. On 21 February 1945, she departed Norfolk, Virginia, bound via the Panama Canal, San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for World War II service in the Western Pacific. She arrived at Oahu on 21 March 1945 and got underway again on 2 April 1945. She stopped at Eniwetok for the night of 10 April 1945 – 11 April 1945 and then resumed her voyage. She touched at Guam in the Mariana Islands on 14 April 1945 and then pushed on to the lagoon at Ulithi Atoll. There, she joined a convoy bound for the Ryukyu Islands and arrived in Kerama Retto near Okinawa on 21 April 1945. She remained at Okinawa screening the American ships there until 30 April 1945 when she got underway in the screen of a convoy containing 16 other ships bound for Saipan in the Marianas.
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to last for a much longer, and more importantly, predictable life-span. For example, if a bolt has a hidden flaw introduced during manufacturing, it will not be as reliable as other bolts of the same type.
New England is a geographical and cultural region composed of six states of the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Boston is New England's largest city as well as the capital of Massachusetts. The largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston with nearly a third of the entire region's population, which also includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,070 km (665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km (768 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; and 1,759 km (1,093 mi) northeast of Cuba. The capital city is Hamilton. Bermuda is self-governing, with its own constitution and its own government, which enacts local laws, while the United Kingdom retains responsibility for defence and foreign relations. As of July 2018, its population is 71,176, the highest of the British overseas territories.
However, after seeing them safely out of the Ryukyus, she returned to Okinawa and resumed her duty screening the ships remaining at Kerama Retto. On 4 May 1945, she helped repulse an enemy air attack but claimed no kills or assists for herself. Later that day, when a kamikaze struck light cruiserUSS Birmingham (CL-62), Wantuck went to the aid of the stricken cruiser. On 5 May 1945, she departed Okinawa in company with damaged Birmingham and destroyer-minesweeperUSS Rodman (DMS-21) and set a course for Ulithi. En route, however, the ships received orders diverting them to Guam in the Marianas and, for the next two months, Wantuck made regular shuttle runs escorting convoys between Guam and Okinawa. That particular routine ended on 5 July 1945 when she departed Guam for Leyte in the Philippines. She entered San Pedro Bay, Leyte, on 8 July 1945 and then headed back to Okinawa. She served in the Ryukyus for more than a month, during which the surrender of Japan ended World War II on 15 August 1945.
Kamikaze, officially Tokubetsu Kōgekitai, were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who initiated suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy warships more effectively than possible with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by kamikaze attacks.
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, possessing armored decks only. While lighter and smaller than other contemporary ships they were still true cruisers, retaining the extended radius of action and self-sufficiency to act independently across the world. Through their history they served in a variety of roles, primarily as convoy escorts and destroyer command ships, but also as scouts and fleet support vessels for battle fleets.
USS Birmingham (CL-62), a United States Cleveland-class light cruiser named for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, the "Steel City", was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia on 17 February 1941 and launched on 20 March 1942 by Mrs. Cooper Green, wife of the president of the Birmingham City Commission. She was commissioned on 29 January 1943, Captain John Wilkes in command. Birmingham was one of the "fightingest" ships of the Navy and suffered heavy damage on at least three occasions.
World War II honors and awards
Wantuck earned one battle star during World War II, for the Okinawa Gunto operation (Assault and Occupation of Okinawa Gunto), covering various dates from 21 April 1945 to 15 August 1945.
Post-World War II
With the war over, Wantuck embarked troops for the planned occupation of Japan and joined the United States Third Fleet on 18 August 1945. She entered Tokyo Bay on 27 August 1945 and disembarked her share of the occupation force. On 30 August 1945, she moved to the Yokosuka Naval Station where she began loading Alliedprisoners of war from the hospital shipUSS Benevolence (AH-13). During the first week of September 1945, she made calls at various Japanese ports embarking former Allied prisoners of war. On 7 September 1945, she transferred her passengers to destroyerUSS Lansdowne (DD-486). On 9 September 1945, Wantuck took several British prisoners on board and the next day transferred them to a Royal Navy destroyer. She continued to shuttle former prisoners of war between locations in Japan until 2 October 1945, at which time she headed for the Marianas.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan. This foreign presence marks the only time in Japan's history that it has been occupied by a foreign power. The country became a parliamentary democracy that recalled "New Deal" priorities of the 1930s by Roosevelt. The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's sovereignty – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was fully restored.
The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific ocean areas including the Bering Sea, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and a sector of the Arctic. Major oil and trade sea lines of communication within this area are critically important to the economic health of the United States and friendly nations throughout the Pacific Rim region.
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. Its old name was Edo Bay. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous and largest industrialized area in Japan.
Wantuck arrived at Guam on 5 October 1945 and remained there until 19 October 1945 when she headed back to Yokosuka, Japan. She reached Yokosuka on 22 October 1945, but got underway again on 30 October 1945. Steaming via Guam, she arrived at Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands on 8 November 1945 but that same day headed for Rabaul. where she arrived on 9 November 1945. On 18 November 1945 she began a circuitous voyage back to the United States.
After stops at Manus, Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor, Wantuck reached San Francisco. California, on 21 December 1945.
On 3 January 1946, Wantuck entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, for an overhaul which she completed on 10 March 1946. That same day, she sailed for her new home port, San Diego. For almost a year, she operated out of San Diego, primarily conducting amphibious warfare exercises at San Clemente Island.
On 24 February 1947, Wantuck departed San Diego for a three-month voyage to the Western Pacific. Her ports of call included Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Manus, and Guam. She returned to San Diego on 19 June 1947 and resumed normal operations out of that port, which she continued until the beginning of 1948.
On 15 January 1948, Wantuck again stood out of San Diego for a voyage to the Western Pacific. After stops at Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, and Guam, she arrived in Tsingtao, China, on 15 February 1948. For the next six months, she cruised along the China coast, observing conditions during the latter stages of the Chinese Civil War, and transported Chinese Nationalist troops to various locations in support of their efforts against the Chinese Communists. On 16 August 1948, Wantuck departed Tsingtao to return to the United States. She made stops at Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor before reentering San Diego on 9 September 1948 and resumed normal United States West Coast operations.
Early in 1950, Wantuck made a round-trip voyage to Alaskan waters and back to San Diego before departing San Diego on 1 May 1950 to deploy overseas once more. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from 9 May 1950 to 12 May 1950 and then continued her voyage west. After stops in the Mariana and Philippine Islands, Wantuck arrived at Hong Kong on 7 June 1950.
Korean War
While Wantuck was at Hong Kong, war erupted in Korea when communistNorth Korean troops invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, beginning the Korean War. Whether or not this event prompted Wantuck's unusually long stay — three months — in a liberty port for a warship is not clear, but she did not leave Hong Kong until 6 September 1950. From there, the ship moved to Sasebo, Japan, where she arrived on 8 September 1950.
On 10 September 1950, Wantuck was in the Korean combat zone at the port of Pusan preparing for the amphibious assault at Inchon. She departed Pusan on 13 September 1950 with elements of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, embarked. Early on the morning of 15 September 1950, Wantuck was off Wolmi-do, an island just off Inchon. Her troops stormed ashore on the island and quickly consolidated their position in preparation for the second phase of the operation, the invasion of Inchon itself scheduled for that afternoon. Wantuck remained at Inchon supporting the consolidation and expansion of the beachhead until 26 September 1950, at which time she returned to Yokosuka, Japan.
Wantuck returned to Korea early in October 1950 with Royal Marine Commandos embarked. In cooperation with high-speed transport USS Horace A. Bass (APD-124) and supported by destroyer USS De Haven (DD-727), she executed a series of raids near Wonsan to disrupt North Korean transportation facilities — primarily rail lines — to support a scheduled amphibious attack on Wonsan. Wantuck returned to Japan on 10 October 1950 and the Wonsan amphibious assault operation was obviated by the fact that Republic of Korea (ROK) troops entered Wonsan from landward on 11 October 1950.
Wantuck did not arrive back in Korean waters again until 20 October 1950, once again at Wonsan. By that time, however, United Nations efforts to reopen the port of Wonsan were well advanced, and Wantuck saw no further combat duty during that deployment. She returned to Yokosuka on 25 November 1950 and, on 28 November 1950, headed back to the United States. After stops at Midway Atoll and Pearl Harbor, she arrived in San Diego on 15 December 1950.
Wantuck spent almost eight months conducting normal operations along the United States West Coast out of San Diego. Then on 23 July 1951, she headed westward once again for the Far East. Following calls at Pearl Harbor and at Midway Atoll, she arrived in Yokosuka on 22 August 1951. By the time of Wantuck's return to Korea, the war had degenerated into a stalemate on land with the principals locked in armistice negotiations and jockeying for military advantage at the bargaining table. At sea, the naval war had become almost purely one of aircraft carrier operations with planes interdicting communist supply routes and hitting strategic targets in North Korea. Wantuck resumed duty with Task Force 90, the Amphibious Force, and consequently took little active part in the conflict from that point. In fact, during her 1951-1952 deployment, she did not even qualify for the Korean Service Medal, though she did visit Korean ports on occasion, particularly Inchon and Pusan. She departed Yokosuka late in March 1952 and, after a stop at Oahu along the way, reentered San Diego on 19 April 1952.
Wantuck remained on the U.S. West Coast for almost a year. A paucity of movements on her part — limited to one move to San Francisco in September 1952 for a three-month stay before returning to San Diego in December 1952 — suggests a period of extensive repairs probably including an overhaul. In any event, she departed San Diego again on 7 March 1953 and steamed via Pearl Harbor to the Far East. She arrived in Yokosuka on 30 March 1953 and, though she patrolled extensively in Korean waters, her operations were essentially as peaceful as they had been during the previous deployment. In July 1953, the signing of the armistice made those peaceful conditions permanent.
Korean War honors and awards
Wantuck earned seven battle stars during the Korean War, for the following campaigns:
North Korean Aggression, 9 September 1950 – 14 September 1950 and 18 September 1950 – 2 November 1950
Communist China Aggression, 3 November 1950 – 21 November 1950
Inchon Landing. 15 September 1950 – 17 September 1950
United Nations Summer-Fall Offensive, 6 September 1951 – 10 September 1951 and 24 September 1951 – 8 October 1951
Second Korean Winter, 5 December 1951 – 6 December 1951, 17 December 1951 – 18 December 1951, 28 December 1951 – 30 December 1951, 21 January 1952 – 27 January 1952, and 19 March 1952 – 27 March 1952
Third Korean Winter, 8 April 1953 – 20 April 1953
Korean Summer-Fall 1953, 1 June 1953 – 11 June 1953, 15 June 1953 – 19 June 1953, and 27 July 1953
Post-Korean War
Wantuck conducted patrols, training exercises, and port visits for the remainder of her 1953 Korean deployment. On 9 November 1953, she departed Yokosuka to return to the United States. En route she stopped at Midway and Pearl Harbor before arriving in San Diego on 25 November 1953.
Over the remaining four years of her active career, Wantuck made two more cruises to the Far East, one in 1954—during which she operated out of Hong Kong—and another in 1955. In 1956 and the first half of 1957, her zone of operations centered in two areas, the California coast and the waters around Alaska.
Collision with USS Lenawee
In mid-August 1957, Wantuck got underway from San Diego for Hawaii on the first leg of a voyage to Japan. She was about 180 nautical miles (333 kilometers) from San Diego on a moonless and starless night when at 0318 hours on 15 August 1957 the attack transportUSS Lenawee (APA-195) rammed her on the port side between the No.1 boiler room and No. 1 engine room, almost tearing Wantuck in half, the impact being powerful enough to bring her forward momentum to an immediate stop and shove her laterally to starboard.[2]Wantuck suffered two men killed—one who drowned in the flooding engine room and another scalded by high-pressure steam—and five injured, all burned.[3] The submarine rescue shipUSS Florikan (ASR-9) and fleet ocean tugUSS Cree (ATF-84) came to Wantuck's aid, while Lenawee took some of Wantuck's injured men aboard and proceeded to Pearl Harbor.
Wantuck arrived in San Diego under tow on the evening of 16 August 1957.
USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was named for Lieutenant Commander Harry Brinkley Bass (1916–1944), who was killed in action when his plane crashed in combat during the invasion of southern France on 20 August 1944.
USS Union (AKA-106) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy, the fourth ship with this name, and served as a commissioned ship for 25 years and 1 month.
USS Seminole (AKA-104/LKA-104) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy named after counties in Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma. Seminole was designed to carry military cargo and landing craft, and to use the latter to land weapons, supplies, and Marines on enemy shores during amphibious warfare and operations. She served as a commissioned ship for 25 years and 9 months.
USS Montague (AKA-98) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship named after a county in Texas. She served as a commissioned ship for 10 years and 7 months.
USS Whiteside (AKA-90) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship named after Whiteside County, Illinois. She served as a commissioned ship for 13 years and 4 months.
USS Lenawee (APA-195) was a Haskell-class attack transport built and used by the US Navy in World War II and saw further service during the Korean War and Vietnam War. She was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5. She was named after Lenawee County, Michigan, USA.
USS Pledge (AM-277) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was built to clear minefields in offshore waters, and served the Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and then was transferred to the North Pacific Ocean. She survived the world war and was awarded one battle star, but, during the Korean War, she struck a mine and was sunk. She received the Presidential Unit Citation for her Korean service.
USS Jefferson County (LST-845) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after counties in 25 states, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
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USS Outagamie County (LST-1073) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship in the United States Navy. Unlike many of her class, which received only numbers and were disposed of after World War II, she survived long enough to be named. On 1 July 1955, all LSTs still in commission were named for US counties or parishes; LST-1073 was given the name Outagamie County, after Outagamie County, Wisconsin.
USS Pitkin County (LST-1082) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after Pitkin County, Colorado, she was the only U.S. Naval Vessel to bear the name.
USS Lipan (AT-85) was a Navajo-class fleet tug constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Her purpose was to aid ships, usually by towing, on the high seas or in combat or post-combat areas, plus "other duties as assigned." She served in the Pacific Ocean and after successful support of World War II and the Korean War, her crew returned home proudly displaying two battle stars for World War II and four battle stars for their efforts during the Korean War.
USS Yuma (AT-94/ATF-94/T-ATF-94) was a Navajo-class fleet tugboat constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second U.S. Navy ship named for the Yuma tribe of Arizona.
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USS Silverstein (DE-534) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket.
USS Horace A. Bass (DE-691/APD-124/LPR-124) was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1944 to 1969.
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