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USS Mathews (AKA-96)
Encyclopedia
USS Mathews (AKA-96) was an named after Mathews County, Virginia
Mathews County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,978 people, 3,932 households, and 2,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 108 people per square mile . There were 5,333 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
. She served as a commissioned ship for 18 years and 8 months.
Mathews (AKA–96) was laid down on 15 September 1944 under Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., launched on 22 December 1944, sponsored by Miss Mary Margaret McBride, acquired by the Navy on 3 March 1945, 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 15 March 1945, Comdr. C. A. Thorwall, in command.
1945–1947
With less than a month's training behind her, Mathews departed 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...
on 8 April 1945 for the Pacific with military cargo and passengers. Stopping briefly in Hawaii
Hawaiian 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...
for further training, she steamed on to 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...
, arriving at the latter on 21 June. On 10 July, with Army passengers and equipment on board, she sailed for 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...
, which had recently been secured after 82 days of fighting. Mathews entered Hagushi Bay
Hagushi
Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American supplies during the invasion of Okinawa during World War II. The bay, at the mouth of the Bishi River , was the dividing line between the First and Sixth US Marine divisions, which landed on the Hagushi beaches to the north, and the Seventh...
on 14 July, remaining until the 22nd when she departed for Ulithi. From there she carried cargo to 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...
and 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...
. While en route to the latter, she received word of Japan's unconditional surrender
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
.
Proceeding 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...
from Guam, she began ferrying occupation troops to the American zone of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
; and for the next 2½ months she operated between 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...
and Jinsen, Korea. On 19 November, her passenger accommodations filled with returning veterans, she departed Korea for the United States, arriving Norfolk on 23 December. She remained on the east coast until 2 October 1946, when she sailed for San Francisco and deactivation. Arriving on 26 October, she decommissioned there on 4 April 1947 and was turned over to the Maritime Commission at Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...
.
1951–1967
Reacquired by the Navy in 1951, Mathews recommissioned on 16 February 1952 and reported for duty with the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, on 17 March. After training at Long BeachLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
she sailed for the Pribilof Islands
Pribilof Islands
The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberia coast is roughly northwest...
, on a resupply assignment on 1 July returning with a cargo of seal products. A year later, on 1 July 1953, the attack cargo ship got underway for Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
where she transported prisoners–of–war
Operation Big Switch
Operation Big Switch was the repatriation of all remaining prisoners of the Korean War. Ceasefire talks had been going on between Communist and UN forces since 1951, with one of the main stumbling blocks being the Communist insistence that all prisoners be returned home, with the UN insisting that...
, primarily Chinese, from Koje-do to Inchon, the port of exchange. Returning to Long Beach on 23 April 1954, Mathews trained along the west coast through 1955. These operations were interrupted only by another resupply mission to Pribilof, from which she again returned with a cargo of valuable seal products.
In 1966, Mathews again deployed with the 7th Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
. Assigned to that fleet's amphibious force 12 January–4 October, she participated in squadron and fleet exercises from Japan 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...
, joining in the Black Ship Festival at Shimoda
Shimoda
Shimoda can mean:* Places in Japan:** Shimoda, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka Prefecture** Shimoda, Aomori, a town in Aomori Prefecture* Treaty of Shimoda , between Japan and Russia* Shimoda Toyomatsu, an early Japanese Scouting notable...
on 17 to 21 May. During 1957, Mathews was involved for the most part in amphibious training operations along the coast of Southern California. She made WestPac deployments in 1958, 1959, and 1960, again resupplying Pribiloff after her 1958 cruise. 1961 saw Mathews operating off the west coast.
On 22 January 1962, Mathews once again departed for duty with the 7th Fleet. Towards the end of her tour, as Communist insurgency in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
continued to threaten Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, she was called on to transport Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and cargo support elements of the 3rd Marine Division from 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...
to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. Arriving on 9 June, her passengers and cargo added strength to the 1,800 marines landed on 16 May, at the request of the Thai government, and positioned defensively in the north.
Mathews returned to Long Beach on 30 July, but within three months was again called on to aid in the thwarting of Communist military plans. In late October, as the crisis over the USSR's establishment of missile bases on Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
mounted, Mathews was attached to the Atlantic Fleet and throughout the quarantine period operated with amphibious groups in the Caribbean, returning to California on 16 December.
Her annual deployments to WestPac since 1962 further involved the ship in anti–Communist activities. In 1963–64, she served a month, mid–December to mid–January, as a unit of the Amphibious Ready Group at Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...
. During June, July, and August, 1965, she shuttled troops and cargo from Okinawa to Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
and Chu Lai
Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a sea port, urban and industrial area in Dung Quat Bay, Núi Thành district, Quang Nam province of Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai Airport.-Vietnam War:...
, South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
, and in October, Republic of Korea Army units from Pusan, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, to Qui Nhơn. She arrived back at Long Beach on 2 December only to depart again on 10 January 1966 for Okinawa with Marine artillery elements embarked, returning to California in March.
On 2 May, Mathews got underway for her third western Pacific deployment in 370 days, with Marine engineers on board en route to Chu Lai. She then shuttled between Subic Bay, Da Nang, and Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, before departing for Yokosuka
United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, or Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base, in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet and...
and Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, arriving there on 23 July and engaging in amphibious, tactical and engineering exercises for the remainder of the year.
After operations on the west coast through the first half of 1967. Mathews sailed for the Far East on 21 July 1967 to resume her role in the struggle against Communist aggression in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. She remained in the western Pacific into 1968, sailing for the west coast on 4 February with calls at Okinawa, Yokosuka, and 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...
before reaching Long Beach on 19 March. After operating off the California coast for the next seven months, Mathews put into San Diego on 14 October.
Decommissioning and sale
She decommissioned at San Diego on 31 October 1968, and was struck from the Navy ListNaval 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 1 November 1968. She was sold for scrap in 1969.