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USS Heywood (APA-6)
Encyclopedia
USS Heywood (APA-6) was a acquired by the U.S. Navy for service as a troop carrier just prior to World War II
. She served in the Pacific War
, a very dangerous area in the early years of the war, and safely returned home post-war with seven battle stars to her credit.
Heywood was built in 1919 as Steadfast by the Bethlehem Steel
Corp., Alameda, California
. As City of Baltimore she made New York
-San Francisco passenger runs for the Panama Pacific Lines throughout the 1930s. She was acquired by the Navy 26 October 1940, renamed Heywood (AP-12), and fitted out as a troop transport at Portland, Oregon
, where she commissioned 7 November 1940, Captain Herbert B. Knowles in command.
before transiting the Panama Canal
for Charleston, South Carolina
, arriving 14 June 1941. She carried garrison forces for the defense of Iceland
and performed neutrality patrol in waters of the West Indies until the infamous raid on Pearl Harbor
.
, 10 April 1942 with reinforcements for the Solomon Islands
, then replenished at San Pedro, California, before sailing for Wellington, New Zealand.
-Guadalcanal
area 7 August 1942. She shot down an enemy plane 8 August and frequently repelled air attacks as she shuttled desperately needed supplies and troops into Guadalcanal from the New Hebrides
, New Caledonia
and ports of Australia
. Outbound from the besieged Solomons, she evacuated wounded Americans and Japanese captives.
, Aleutian Islands. She returned nearly 500 wounded veterans of the campaign for Attu to San Francisco, California
, 6 June, then put to sea with occupation troops landed to occupy Kiska
15 August 1943.
20 November. She returned to Pearl Harbor 3 December for amphibious warfare training culminating in the amphibious assault for the capture of the Marshall Islands
which commenced 31 January 1944. She put garrison
troops ashore at Kwajalein
and Majuro
, then landed assault units as Americans swiftly swept on to Eniwetok. With the Marshalls secured, the transport overhauled in San Pedro, California, then returned to the Marshalls 11 May to prepare for the invasion of the Marianas Islands. She landed assault troops at Saipan
16 June and on nearby Tinian
24 July as America took a giant sea step toward Japan
herself.
in the Philippines
, landing assault troops in the initial invasion of 20 October 1944. She had a brief rest at Manus
in the Admiralties
where she embarked assault troops landed on the shores of Lingayen Gulf
9 January 1945. She landed reinforcements to assist in securing Mindoro
9 February 1945. then returned to the States for overhaul before embarking reinforcements for the capture of Okinawa, the last stepping stone to Japan.
8 September 1945 and continued trooplift operations between Japan and the Philippines until 25 October 1945 when she set course for the western seaboard. After setting veterans ashore at San Diego, California
, and at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, she arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, 3 February 1946.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She served in the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, a very dangerous area in the early years of the war, and safely returned home post-war with seven battle stars to her credit.
Heywood was built in 1919 as Steadfast by the Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
Corp., Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
. As City of Baltimore she made New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-San Francisco passenger runs for the Panama Pacific Lines throughout the 1930s. She was acquired by the Navy 26 October 1940, renamed Heywood (AP-12), and fitted out as a troop transport at 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...
, where she commissioned 7 November 1940, Captain Herbert B. Knowles in command.
Pre–World War II North Atlantic operations
Heywood cruised as far west as HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
before transiting the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
for Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, arriving 14 June 1941. She carried garrison forces for the defense of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and performed neutrality patrol in waters of the West Indies until the infamous raid on 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...
.
Transferred to the Pacific when the war broke out
She departed Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, 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....
, 10 April 1942 with reinforcements for the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, then replenished at San Pedro, California, before sailing for Wellington, New Zealand.
Supporting landings on Guadalcanal
She embarked U.S. Marines for amphibious warfare training, then sailed to land them in the amphibious assault in the 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...
-Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
area 7 August 1942. She shot down an enemy plane 8 August and frequently repelled air attacks as she shuttled desperately needed supplies and troops into Guadalcanal from the New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and ports of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Outbound from the besieged Solomons, she evacuated wounded Americans and Japanese captives.
Supporting the Aleutian campaign
Heywood returned to San Pedro, California, 16 January 1943 for repairs. She sailed north 24 April, carrying fighting men who landed 11 May in an amphibious assault on AttuAttu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...
, Aleutian Islands. She returned nearly 500 wounded veterans of the campaign for Attu to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, 6 June, then put to sea with occupation troops landed to occupy Kiska
Kiska
Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at . It is about long and varies in width from - Discovery :...
15 August 1943.
Assaulting Japanese-held islands
Heywood returned to Wellington, New Zealand, 1 October 1943 to train and embark fighting men landed in amphibious assault on bloody Tarawa in the Gilbert IslandsGilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
20 November. She returned to Pearl Harbor 3 December for amphibious warfare training culminating in the amphibious assault for the capture of the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
which commenced 31 January 1944. She put garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
troops ashore at Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
and Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
, then landed assault units as Americans swiftly swept on to Eniwetok. With the Marshalls secured, the transport overhauled in San Pedro, California, then returned to the Marshalls 11 May to prepare for the invasion of the Marianas Islands. She landed assault troops at 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...
16 June and on nearby Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
24 July as America took a giant sea step toward Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
herself.
Supporting the invasion of the Philippines
Heywood participated in the long overseas sweep to LeyteLeyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
in 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...
, landing assault troops in the initial invasion of 20 October 1944. She had a brief rest 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...
in the Admiralties
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
where she embarked assault troops landed on the shores of Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
9 January 1945. She landed reinforcements to assist in securing Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
9 February 1945. then returned to the States for overhaul before embarking reinforcements for the capture of Okinawa, the last stepping stone to Japan.
End-of-war activity
The close of hostilities with Japan 15 August 1945 found Heywood in the Philippine Islands. She carried occupation troops into Tokyo BayTokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
8 September 1945 and continued trooplift operations between Japan and the Philippines until 25 October 1945 when she set course for the western seaboard. After setting veterans ashore at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, and at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, she arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, 3 February 1946.
Post-war decommissioning
She decommissioned there 12 April 1946 and transferred 2 July 1946 to the custody of the Maritime Administration. She was subsequently renamed City of Baltimore. The ship was sold for scrap in 1956.Military awards and honors
Heywood received seven battle stars for service in World War II:- Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings (7 August 1943)
- Capture and defense of Guadalcanal (August 1942 to February 1943)
- Gilbert Islands operation (Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January 1944; Occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, 17 February 1944)
- MarianasMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
operation (Capture and occupation of Saipan, 16 1944) - Tinian capture and occupation (24 July 1944)
- Leyte operation (Leyte landings, San Pedro BaySan 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...
, 20 October 1944) - LuzonLuzonLuzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
operation (Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945)