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USS Lycoming (APA-155)
Encyclopedia
USS Lycoming (APA-155) was a Haskell-class
attack transport
acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II
for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas.
Lycoming (APA 155) was laid down 30 May 1944 by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, Oregon
, under a Maritime Commission contract; launched 25 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Schuyler N. Pyne, wife of Captain (later Rear Admiral) Pyne; acquired by the Navy and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon
, 20 September 1944, Comdr. D. B. Coleman in command.
, 1 November 1944 to serve as a training ship for new attack transport
crews. Testing her own training, she departed the U.S. West Coast, with 1,411 troops embarked, for Pearl Harbor
and the western Pacific Ocean
. Arriving Leyte
, Philippine Islands, 24 February, she was assigned to Transport Squadron 13 which was already rehearsing for the Okinawa invasion. Despite enemy kamikaze
attacks she debarked 1,294 officers and men of the Army’s 7th Division Artillery
with their ordnance and supplies on this enemy bastion between 1 and 5 April. Her mission accomplished, she returned to the United States
11 May for additional troops.
. After her arrival 12 June Lycoming was temporarily transferred to the U.S. 7th Fleet to relocate troops from New Guinea
to the Philippines
. Released after one voyage, she sailed back to San Francisco, California
, arriving 3 August.
surrendered 2 September. Reaching Saipan
9 September, she was assigned to task force
TF 54 transporting occupation troops to Japan. With her quarters filled with 2d Division Marines
. she sailed with 20 other transports for a peaceful debarkation at Nagasaki, Japan, 23 September.
Her final voyages were made as part of the “Operation Magic Carpet” fleet. Embarking 2,400 veterans in the New Hebrides
and New Caledonia
, she landed them at San Francisco 13 November. By mid December, Lycoming embarked 2,013 officers and men at Okinawa and proceeded homeward arriving Seattle, Washington
, early in January 1946.
, 9 February, decommissioned 14 March 1946, and was returned to War Shipping Administration
(WSA) on the 21st. Lycoming entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet
and was berthed in James River, Virginia. She was later struck from the Navy List
on (date unknown) and presumed to hve been some for scrap (date unknown).
service.
American Campaign Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1),
World War II Victory Medal,
Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Haskell class attack transport
Haskell-class attack transports were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy created in 1944. They were designed to transport 1,500 troops and their combat equipment, and land them on hostile shores with the ships' integral landing craft....
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...
acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II
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...
for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas.
Lycoming (APA 155) was laid down 30 May 1944 by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., 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...
, under a Maritime Commission contract; launched 25 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Schuyler N. Pyne, wife of Captain (later Rear Admiral) Pyne; acquired by the Navy and commissioned 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...
, 20 September 1944, Comdr. D. B. Coleman in command.
World War II service
After shakedown off the U.S. West Coast, Lycoming sailed into Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, 1 November 1944 to serve as a training ship for new 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...
crews. Testing her own training, she departed the U.S. West Coast, with 1,411 troops embarked, 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...
and the western Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Arriving Leyte
Leyte
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...
, Philippine Islands, 24 February, she was assigned to Transport Squadron 13 which was already rehearsing for the Okinawa invasion. Despite enemy 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 she debarked 1,294 officers and men of the Army’s 7th Division Artillery
U.S. 7th Infantry Division
The 7th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. It was activated in December 1917 in World War I, inactivated in August 2006 following the end of the Cold War, and based at Fort Ord, California for most of its history...
with their ordnance and supplies on this enemy bastion between 1 and 5 April. Her mission accomplished, she returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
11 May for additional troops.
Landing troops and equipment in the Philippines
Within a week 1,200 additional men were on their way to ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. After her arrival 12 June Lycoming was temporarily transferred to the U.S. 7th Fleet to relocate troops from 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 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...
. Released after one voyage, she sailed back 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...
, arriving 3 August.
End-of-war operations
Lycoming was at sea headed for the Marianas with Army troops when JapanEmpire 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...
surrendered 2 September. Reaching 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...
9 September, she was assigned to task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
TF 54 transporting occupation troops to Japan. With her quarters filled with 2d Division Marines
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...
. she sailed with 20 other transports for a peaceful debarkation at Nagasaki, Japan, 23 September.
Her final voyages were made as part of the “Operation Magic Carpet” fleet. Embarking 2,400 veterans in 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...
and 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...
, she landed them at San Francisco 13 November. By mid December, Lycoming embarked 2,013 officers and men at Okinawa and proceeded homeward arriving Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, early in January 1946.
Post-war decommissioning
The veteran transport arrived 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....
, 9 February, decommissioned 14 March 1946, and was returned to 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....
(WSA) on the 21st. Lycoming entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet
National Defense Reserve Fleet
The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...
and was berthed in James River, Virginia. She was later struck from the Navy List
Navy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
on (date unknown) and presumed to hve been some for scrap (date unknown).
Military awards and honors
Lycoming received one battle star for World War IIWorld 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...
service.
American Campaign Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1),
World War II Victory Medal,
Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)