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USS Chara (AKA-58)
Encyclopedia
USS Chara (AKA-58) was an named after a star in the constellation Canes Venatici. She was later converted to an ammunition ship
Ammunition ship
An ammunition ship is a warship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for Navy ships and aircraft. Their cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks between decks, and mechanisms for flooding entire compartments with sea water in...
and redesignated (AE-31).
Chara (AKA-58) was launched on 15 March 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
, under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. E. P. McHugh, acquired by the Navy on 16 March 1944, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 14 June 1944, Commander C. B. Hamblett, USNR, in command.
1944–1949
Chara cleared NorfolkNaval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
22 July 1944 for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, arriving on 10 August for training. Her initial combat action came on 20 October when she hove to in Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
, with the Southern Attack Force, and swiftly landed troops and cargo in the momentous assault that was the first step in the liberation of the Philippines. Chara withdrew on 24 October, while the decisive naval Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...
raged in the area. She returned to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
to reload essential supplies which she delivered to support the continuing land Battle of Leyte
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
on 18 November.
After rehearsal landings in New Guinea, and staging at Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
, Chara cleared on 31 December 1944 for the assault on Lingayen
Invasion of Lingayen Gulf
The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...
. As TF 97 penetrated Philippine waters, on 8 January 1945, a Japanese kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attack was hurled at them and succeeded in damaging one escort carrier of the group. On board Chara, three men were wounded, one fatally, as a result of the heavy anti-aircraft fire thrown up by the task force. The assaults were made on 9 January and 10 January, Chara's men landing their troops and cargo successfully despite heavy surf conditions and a beach so difficult that the Japanese never anticipated an amphibious assault in the location. Chara remained in the Leyte area, participating in the landings on San Antonio
San Antonio, Northern Samar
San Antonio is a 5th class municipality in the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 8,151 people.-History:San Antonio was established in 1904...
on 26 January, until 26 March, when she steamed from San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
combat-loaded for the beaches of Okinawa
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
.
Once again at Okinawa, her men worked skillfully in an amphibious assault, as Chara landed troops and heavy equipment on 1 April 1945. She remained off Okinawa in this invasion, famous for the Japanese desperation kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attacks, to unload reinforcements and additional equipment until 6 April. After overhaul in the States and a return to Okinawa with cargo on 5 July, Chara returned to San Francisco where she loaded supplies for the Philippines, calling en route for additional supplies at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, thus beginning a period of cargo operations in the Philippines and to Japan in support of the occupation.
She returned to the States in December 1945, then continued to support forces in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
until 1950, carrying men and cargo for the Naval Transportation Service, and after 1 October 1949, for the Military Sea Transportation Service.
1950–1959
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Chara was transferred to Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty as an ammunition ship, transporting and transferring all types of ammunition at sea to fleet units. She cleared San Francisco on 16 September 1950 to replenish TF 77 and support the evacuations of Hungnam
Hungnam
Hŭngnam was the third largest city in North Korea.It is a port city on the eastern coast, in South Hamgyong Province, on the Sea of Japan . The city covers an area of 250 square kilometers...
and Wonsan
Wonsan
Wŏnsan is a port city and naval base in southeastern North Korea. It is the capital of Kangwŏn Province. The population of the city is estimated to have been 331,000 in 2000. Notable people from Wŏnsan include Kim Ki Nam, diplomat and Secretary of the Workers' Party.- History :The original name of...
before returning to San Francisco for overhaul on 26 March 1951. In her second Korean tour, 19 July 1951 to 18 May 1952, she joined the Mobile Logistics Support Force in operations in the Wonsan-Songjin bomb-line triangle, and in emergency lifts of Korean POWs from Koje-do to Ulsan
Ulsan
Ulsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...
. Another tour of providing at-sea replenishment of ammunition preceded the end of hostilities.
Chara later alternated duty in the western Pacific with training and upkeep on the west coast. In December 1954 and January 1955, she took part in the evacuation of the Tachen Islands
First Taiwan Strait Crisis
The First Taiwan Strait Crisis was a short armed conflict that took place between the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China . The PRC seized the Yijiangshan Islands, forcing the ROC to abandon the Tachen Islands...
. Active through 1958, Chara was placed out of commission in reserve at Astoria, Oregon
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
, on 21 April 1959.
1966–1972
She was converted to an ammunition shipAmmunition ship
An ammunition ship is a warship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for Navy ships and aircraft. Their cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks between decks, and mechanisms for flooding entire compartments with sea water in...
at Willamette Iron and Steel Works
Willamette Iron and Steel Works
Willamette Iron Works was a general foundry and machine business established in 1865 in Portland, Oregon, originally specializing in the manufacture of steamboat boilers and engines...
in Portland, Oregon, and recommissioned as AE-31 on 25 June 1966. Chara was finally decommissioned in March 1972, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 10 March 1972. She was sold for scrap on 12 November 1972.
Awards
Chara received four battle stars for service during World War II, and seven for service during the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.