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USS Cecil (APA-96)
Encyclopedia
USS Cecil (APA-96) was a Bayfield class
attack transport
that served with the US Navy during World War II.
Launched as Sea Angler by Western Pipe & Steel, San Francisco, California, under a Maritime Commission contract, the vessel was acquired by the Navy 26 February 1944 and renamed Cecil after a county in Maryland
. She was placed in reduced commission 27 February, converted at Commercial Iron Works
, Portland, Oregon
, and placed in full commission 15 September 1944, Captain P. G. Hale in command.
, and preparations for the invasion of Iwo Jima
at Eniwetok and Saipan
. She cleared Saipan with her task group 16 February, and 3 days later, took position off Iwo Jima for the initial assault. As naval and air bombardment pounded the island, her men skillfully played their part. Remaining off the hard-fought beaches, Cecil completed unloading troops, cargo, and vehicles, and embarked casualties, with whom she sailed 28 February to Saipan.
and Espiritu Santo
, where she loaded men and cargo of the 27th Infantry Division. On 9 April 1945, she landed these reinforcements through high surf on Okinawa. She remained for a week continuing her unloading under enemy air attacks, aiding in fighting them off as she loaded and landed her boats. On 16 April she got underway for Saipan and Ulithi
, where she received minor repairs and replenished.
, P.I., for transport and training duty until 27 August, when she departed Luzon with troops and cargo of the 1st Cavalry Division, bound for occupation duty in Japan.
Cecil called at Yokohama
from 2 to 4 September 1945, then returned to the Philippines
to load more occupation troops. On the return passage to Japan, she was ordered into Okinawa from 25 September to 3 October to avoid a threatening typhoon, then proceeded on to disembark her troops at Aki Nada.
, to return men and equipment to San Pedro, where she arrived on 22 January 1946. In March, she sailed to Norfolk, Virginia
, where she was decommissioned on 24 May 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission the next day.
Cecil received two battle stars for World War II service.
which registered her in New York as Steel Admiral.
Steel Admiral remained in service with Isthmian Steamship until 1973, when she was taken to Kaohsiung
, Taiwan
and scrapped in October of the same year.
Bayfield class attack transport
The Bayfield class attack transport was a class of US Navy attack transports that were built during World War II.With the entry of the United States into the war, it was quickly realized that amphibious combat operations on hostile shores would be required, and that specialized ships would be...
attack transport
Attack transport
Attack Transport is a United States Navy ship classification.-History:In the early 1940s, as the United States Navy expanded in response to the threat of involvement in World War II, a number of civilian passenger ships and some freighters were acquired, converted to transports and given hull...
that served with the US Navy during World War II.
Launched as Sea Angler by Western Pipe & Steel, San Francisco, California, under a Maritime Commission contract, the vessel was acquired by the Navy 26 February 1944 and renamed Cecil after a county in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. She was placed in reduced commission 27 February, converted at Commercial Iron Works
Commercial Iron Works
Commercial Iron Works was a manufacturing firm in Portland, Oregon, United States. Established in 1916, the company is best remembered today for its contribution to America's emergency shipbuilding program during World War II....
, Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and placed in full commission 15 September 1944, Captain P. G. Hale in command.
Iwo Jima
Cecil cleared San Francisco 26 November 1944 for amphibious training in the Hawaiian IslandsHawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, and preparations for the invasion of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
at Eniwetok and Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. She cleared Saipan with her task group 16 February, and 3 days later, took position off Iwo Jima for the initial assault. As naval and air bombardment pounded the island, her men skillfully played their part. Remaining off the hard-fought beaches, Cecil completed unloading troops, cargo, and vehicles, and embarked casualties, with whom she sailed 28 February to Saipan.
Okinawa
Cecil continued on to TulagiTulagi
Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida...
and Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
, where she loaded men and cargo of the 27th Infantry Division. On 9 April 1945, she landed these reinforcements through high surf on Okinawa. She remained for a week continuing her unloading under enemy air attacks, aiding in fighting them off as she loaded and landed her boats. On 16 April she got underway for Saipan and Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
, where she received minor repairs and replenished.
After hostilities
On 21 May, Cecil arrived in Subic BaySubic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, P.I., for transport and training duty until 27 August, when she departed Luzon with troops and cargo of the 1st Cavalry Division, bound for occupation duty in Japan.
Cecil called at Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
from 2 to 4 September 1945, then returned to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to load more occupation troops. On the return passage to Japan, she was ordered into Okinawa from 25 September to 3 October to avoid a threatening typhoon, then proceeded on to disembark her troops at Aki Nada.
Operation Magic Carpet
She sailed to San Pedro, California, for a minor overhaul in November, then made another voyage to the Philippines as part of Operation Magic CarpetOperation Magic Carpet (World War II)
Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II effort by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and CBI theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships, and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from...
, to return men and equipment to San Pedro, where she arrived on 22 January 1946. In March, she sailed to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, where she was decommissioned on 24 May 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission the next day.
Cecil received two battle stars for World War II service.
Commercial service
In 1948, Cecil was purchased by the Isthmian Steamship CompanyIsthmian Steamship Company
The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910.Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship's master...
which registered her in New York as Steel Admiral.
Steel Admiral remained in service with Isthmian Steamship until 1973, when she was taken to Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and scrapped in October of the same year.