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USS Lanier (APA-125)
Encyclopedia
USS Lanier (APA-125) was a of the US Navy. She was built during World War II
and served in the Pacific Theater
, seeing combat during the Battle of Okinawa
. She was a Victory ship
design type. Lanier was named for Lanier County, Georgia
, which was named for poet Sidney Lanier
.
, Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract. She was a VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type and her yard number was TR 8 and her hull number was MCV 39. She was launched 29 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Earl English; acquired by the Navy 22 December 1944; and commissioned the same day at Oakland, California
, Comdr. Walter W. Rockey in command.
After shakedown
, Lanier departed San Francisco 23 February 1945 and arrived Pearl Harbor
2 March to practice landing operations. Loaded with 1,485 soldiers, she got underway 28 March and steamed in convoy with 11 other transports and five merchantmen for the Volcano Islands
. Touching Eniwetok and Saipan
, she reached Iwo Jima
20 April and discharged men and cargo. She returned to Saipan 22 to 24 April, took on board equipment and 1,442 troops, then sailed to Okinawa 2 to 6 May. There she landed reinforcements and embarked 66 battle casualties before returning to Saipan 8 to 13 May. On the next day she embarked 254 survivors from Little (DD-803)
, sunk by enemy air attack while on radar picket
duty west of Okinawa 3 May.
Steaming to San Francisco 14 to 30 May, Lanier proceeded to Seattle 31 May to 2 June, embarked 1,442 troops, and departed 12 June for the Far East. She sailed via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Ulithi
and reached Okinawa 24 July. She operated off Okinawa until 6 August, then carried 798 passengers via Ulithi to Guam
, where she arrived the 14th. She embarked over 1,300 occupation troops the following day and sailed as part of Task Force 31
for occupation landings on Japan
. She anchored in Sagami Wan 27 August, and during midwatch 30 August entered Tokyo Bay
to begin landing operations off Yokosuka. Her landing craft
carried troops in the first wave and landed them at Yokosuka Airport
at 0920. Steaming to Saipan 1 to 5 September, Lanier embarked marines of the 2d Division
and carried them to Nagasaki, Kyūshū
, 18 to 23 September.
Sailing in convoy
26 September, Lanier reached Manila Bay
, Luzon
, 1 October and joined the “Magic Carpet”
fleet. She proceeded to Saipan 16 to 21 October, embarked 1,851 homewardbound veterans, and departed the 22d for Seattle, Wash., where she arrived 4 November. On 28 November she departed once more for the southwest Pacific. Reaching New Guinea
17 December, she embarked 1,598 troops at Hollandia
, 532 troops at Finschhafen
, and departed 21 December for the west coast. She arrived San Pedro
6 January 1946. Lanier sailed for the east coast 19 January 1946, and reached Norfolk
4 February. She decommissioned at Norfolk 5 March 1946 and was turned over to the War Shipping Administration
8 March. She was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF).
, for $111,560, to be scrapped.
(March 10, 1925 - November 10, 1991) -- Machinist's Mate, First Class. Created the western cartoon, "Cowpokes." His main character, Jake, was born on board the Lanier. Jake first appeared as "The Sorry Salt" in the ship's newspaper. Ace was on duty in the engine room during the tugboat-barge incident in Seattle.
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...
and served in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
, seeing combat during the Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
. She was a Victory ship
Victory ship
The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...
design type. Lanier was named for Lanier County, Georgia
Lanier County, Georgia
Lanier County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Valdosta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2009, the population was 8,423. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 7,847. The county seat is Lakeland. Lakeland is Lanier County's only incorporated...
, which was named for poet Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier was an American musician and poet.-Biography:Sidney Lanier was born February 3, 1842, in Macon, Georgia, to parents Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary Jane Anderson; he was mostly of English ancestry. His distant French Huguenot ancestors immigrated to England in the 16th century...
.
World War II Service
Lanier was laid down 25 June 1944 by the California Shipbuilding CorporationCalifornia Shipbuilding Corporation
California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including Haskell-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship...
, Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract. She was a VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type and her yard number was TR 8 and her hull number was MCV 39. She was launched 29 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Earl English; acquired by the Navy 22 December 1944; and commissioned the same day at Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, Comdr. Walter W. Rockey in command.
After shakedown
Shakedown (testing)
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...
, Lanier departed San Francisco 23 February 1945 and arrived 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...
2 March to practice landing operations. Loaded with 1,485 soldiers, she got underway 28 March and steamed in convoy with 11 other transports and five merchantmen for the Volcano Islands
Volcano Islands
The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...
. Touching 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 reached 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...
20 April and discharged men and cargo. She returned to Saipan 22 to 24 April, took on board equipment and 1,442 troops, then sailed to Okinawa 2 to 6 May. There she landed reinforcements and embarked 66 battle casualties before returning to Saipan 8 to 13 May. On the next day she embarked 254 survivors from Little (DD-803)
USS Little (DD-803)
USS Little , a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Captain George Little ....
, sunk by enemy air attack while on radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
duty west of Okinawa 3 May.
Steaming to San Francisco 14 to 30 May, Lanier proceeded to Seattle 31 May to 2 June, embarked 1,442 troops, and departed 12 June for the Far East. She sailed via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, 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...
and reached Okinawa 24 July. She operated off Okinawa until 6 August, then carried 798 passengers via Ulithi to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, where she arrived the 14th. She embarked over 1,300 occupation troops the following day and sailed as part of Task Force 31
Task Force 31
Task Force 31 was a US Navy task force active with the United States Third Fleet during World War II, and still ready to be activated today with today's Third Fleet...
for occupation landings on Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She anchored in Sagami Wan 27 August, and during midwatch 30 August entered Tokyo Bay
Tokyo 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...
to begin landing operations off Yokosuka. Her landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
carried troops in the first wave and landed them at Yokosuka Airport
Yokosuka naval airfield
Yokosuka naval airfield was an airfield created on Natsu Island , near Yokosuka Naval Base, in Tokyo Bay. It was active in the defense of Tokyo during World War II and was one of the first places occupied by Allied forces after the end of hostilities.- External links :*...
at 0920. Steaming to Saipan 1 to 5 September, Lanier embarked marines of the 2d Division
U.S. 2nd Marine Division
The U.S. 2nd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and headquartered at Julian C...
and carried them to Nagasaki, Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, 18 to 23 September.
Sailing in convoy
Convoy
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, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
26 September, Lanier reached Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon 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...
, 1 October and joined the “Magic Carpet”
Operation 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...
fleet. She proceeded to Saipan 16 to 21 October, embarked 1,851 homewardbound veterans, and departed the 22d for Seattle, Wash., where she arrived 4 November. On 28 November she departed once more for the southwest Pacific. Reaching 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...
17 December, she embarked 1,598 troops at Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, 532 troops at Finschhafen
Finschhafen
Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the port of the same name.The port was discovered in 1884 by the German researcher Otto Finsch. In 1885 the German colony of German New Guinea created a town on the site and named it...
, and departed 21 December for the west coast. She arrived San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
6 January 1946. Lanier sailed for the east coast 19 January 1946, and reached Norfolk
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....
4 February. She decommissioned at Norfolk 5 March 1946 and was turned over to the War Shipping Administration
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
8 March. She was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF).
Fate
In 1956 Lanier was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet as part of a Repair Program, GAA-American Hawaiian, and then returned. On 9 April 1973 she was sold to Union Minerals & Alloy Corp.Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation
Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation is a US corporation that ran a shipbreaking operation. In the 1960s and 1970s it purchased from the United States Maritime Administration many surplus U.S. Navy and U.S...
, for $111,560, to be scrapped.
Notable Crewmembers
Ace ReidAce Reid
Ace Reid was the creator of the cartoon Cowpokes and Western humorist. Cowpokes, at one time, ran in over 400 weekly newspapers across the United States. He produced many popular cartoon books and calendars during his lifetime.He was born on March 10, 1925 at Lelia Lake, Donley County, Texas ....
(March 10, 1925 - November 10, 1991) -- Machinist's Mate, First Class. Created the western cartoon, "Cowpokes." His main character, Jake, was born on board the Lanier. Jake first appeared as "The Sorry Salt" in the ship's newspaper. Ace was on duty in the engine room during the tugboat-barge incident in Seattle.