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USS Oak Hill (LSD-7)
Encyclopedia
USS Oak Hill (LSD-7) was an Ashland-class
dock landing ship
of the United States Navy
, named in honor of Oak Hill, the Virginia
estate of President
James Monroe
(1758–1831).
Oak Hill, originally designated as a Mechanized Artillery Transport, APM-7, was laid down by the Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, California
, 9 March 1943; launched
on 25 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Robert E. Garrels; and commissioned
on 5 January 1944, Commander
Carl A. Peterson in command.
and amphibious training off southern California
, Oak Hill, designed to serve as a cargo and transport type amphibious ship and as a floating dry dock
, ferried cargo between the west coast and Hawaii
. In early May she engaged in rehearsals for Operation Forager, the thrust into the Marianas
, and, at the end of the month, sailed west in Task Group 52.16 (TG 52.16). With tank
-bearing LCM
s and troops of the 2nd Marine Division on board, she arrived in transport area off Saipan
early on 15 June. Her boats soon away and headed for the beachhead, the LSD took up repair duties, working on LCMs, LCVP
s and LCTs until the 22nd. She then headed back to Pearl Harbor
to resume shuttling cargo and landing craft between Hawaii and the west coast.
On 12 August, Oak Hill, with tanks and soldiers of the 710th Tank Battalion embarked, headed west again. Following rehearsals for the Palau operation at Guadalcanal
, she was off Babelthaup by 15 September. There she feinted toward Namai Bay, then proceeded to Anguar, sent her tank laden LCTs in, and again repaired landing craft. Departing the Palau
s on the 21st, she moved to Ulithi
, thence proceeded to New Guinea
arriving at Humboldt Bay on the 29th to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines.
On 20 October Oak Hill stood off Leyte and launched LTM
s and LVT
s carrying 1st Cavalry Division units toward White beach. For the next two months she carried reinforcements from New Guinea to Leyte and then, on Christmas Day, arrived at Morotai
to prepare for the Lingayen Gulf offensive
. Departing the 28th, she proceeded to Sansapor, thence, on 1 January 1945, to the Philippines
. On the 9th she dispatched LCTs and LCVPs to the Luzon
beachhead, then withdrew to Leyte to begin ferrying reinforcements from there, and from Morotai, to the assault area.
Sailing to the Solomons
on 2 February, Oak Hill rehearsed with units of the 1st Marine Division for her next operation, the Okinawa campaign
. On 1 April, she arrived in transport area Baker, lowered her LCMs for the assault on Blue Beach and then began repairing landing craft. Through the end of May, she remained in the Hagushi
area for repair duties. Then she transported Marines
and tanks to Iheya Shima and to Aguni Shima before steaming back to Leyte, 10 June.
For the remainder of the war, Oak Hill transported men and equipment from the central Pacific to the Philippines and Okinawa. Post-war duties at Jinsen, Korea
, and Tsingtao, China
, occupied the remainder of her tour in the Far East. In February 1946 she got underway for the United States and on 17 March 1947 she decommissioned and was berthed at San Diego
as a unit of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
waters, in the late summer months of 1951, and, between May and December 1952, took part in Operation Ivy
— the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshalls
. Following that duty she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet
and homeported at Norfolk
.
In January 1955 Oak Hill returned to San Diego and Pacific Fleet duty, departing for her first regular WestPac deployment 31 March. During her 1958 WestPac tour she supplied Nationalist Chinese offshore islands as they withstood shelling by Chinese Communist guns. After 1965, her annual western Pacific deployments took her to South East Asia where she supported Naval operations in strife-torn South Viet Nam. Operating primarily in the Da Nang
– Cam Ranh Bay
areas, she performed assignments as far south as the Mekong Delta
and visited ports in Thailand
, Taiwan
, and Japan
as well as in the Philippines.
Oak Hill was decommissioned on 26 October 1969, and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 31 October 1969.
She was sold for scrapping, 15 April 1970, to Marine Power and Equipment Co., Seattle Washington.
Oak Hill (LSD-7) earned five battle stars for World War II
service and six campaign stars for Vietnam War
service.
Ashland class dock landing ship
A Landing Ship, Dock is a form of auxiliary warship designed to support amphibious operations. The Ashland class dock landing ship were the first of the type and were built during World War II.-Ships:-External links:...
dock landing ship
Dock landing ship
A Dock landing ship or Landing ship is a form of amphibious warship designed to support amphibious operations. These amphibious assault ships transport and launch amphibious craft and vehicles with their crews and embarked personnel...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, named in honor of Oak Hill, the Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
estate of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(1758–1831).
Oak Hill, originally designated as a Mechanized Artillery Transport, APM-7, was laid down by the Moore Dry Dock Co., 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...
, 9 March 1943; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 25 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Robert E. Garrels; 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 5 January 1944, Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Carl A. Peterson in command.
World War II
Following shakedownShakedown (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...
and amphibious training off southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Oak Hill, designed to serve as a cargo and transport type amphibious ship and as a floating dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
, ferried cargo between the west coast and Hawaii
Hawaii
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...
. In early May she engaged in rehearsals for Operation Forager, the thrust into the Marianas
Mariana Islands
The 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...
, and, at the end of the month, sailed west in Task Group 52.16 (TG 52.16). With tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
-bearing LCM
Landing Craft Mechanized
The Landing Craft Mechanized or Landing Craft Mechanical was a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults....
s and troops of the 2nd Marine Division on board, she arrived in transport area off 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...
early on 15 June. Her boats soon away and headed for the beachhead, the LSD took up repair duties, working on LCMs, LCVP
LCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
s and LCTs until the 22nd. She then headed back to 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...
to resume shuttling cargo and landing craft between Hawaii and the west coast.
On 12 August, Oak Hill, with tanks and soldiers of the 710th Tank Battalion embarked, headed west again. Following rehearsals for the Palau operation at 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...
, she was off Babelthaup by 15 September. There she feinted toward Namai Bay, then proceeded to Anguar, sent her tank laden LCTs in, and again repaired landing craft. Departing the Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
s on the 21st, she moved to 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...
, thence proceeded 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...
arriving at Humboldt Bay on the 29th to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines.
On 20 October Oak Hill stood off Leyte and launched LTM
LTM
LTM Recordings is an independent record label founded in Britain in 1983, and best known for high quality, well-packaged reissues of artists and music from 1978 to the present day, as well as modern classical and avant garde composition...
s and LVT
LVT
LVT can refer to:* Land value tax* LVT, American indie rock band based out of Baltimore, MD* Landing Vehicle Tracked, an amphibious military vehicle.* Leasehold valuation tribunal, a form of legal hearing in England and Wales....
s carrying 1st Cavalry Division units toward White beach. For the next two months she carried reinforcements from New Guinea to Leyte and then, on Christmas Day, arrived at Morotai
Morotai
Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
to prepare for the Lingayen Gulf offensive
Battle of Luzon
The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony The Philippines, and Mexico against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory...
. Departing the 28th, she proceeded to Sansapor, thence, on 1 January 1945, 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...
. On the 9th she dispatched LCTs and LCVPs to the 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...
beachhead, then withdrew to Leyte to begin ferrying reinforcements from there, and from Morotai, to the assault area.
Sailing to the Solomons
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...
on 2 February, Oak Hill rehearsed with units of the 1st Marine Division for her next operation, the Okinawa campaign
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...
. On 1 April, she arrived in transport area Baker, lowered her LCMs for the assault on Blue Beach and then began repairing landing craft. Through the end of May, she remained in the Hagushi
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...
area for repair duties. Then she transported 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 tanks to Iheya Shima and to Aguni Shima before steaming back to Leyte, 10 June.
For the remainder of the war, Oak Hill transported men and equipment from the central Pacific to the Philippines and Okinawa. Post-war duties at Jinsen, 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 Tsingtao, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, occupied the remainder of her tour in the Far East. In February 1946 she got underway for the United States and on 17 March 1947 she decommissioned and was berthed at San Diego
Naval Station San Diego
Naval Base San Diego is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands. The base is composed of 13 piers stretched...
as a unit of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
1951 – 1965
After the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, Oak Hill recommissioned at San Diego 26 January 1951, Commander R.C. Houston in command. Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, she participated in operation "Blue Jay", in ArcticArctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
waters, in the late summer months of 1951, and, between May and December 1952, took part in Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. Its purpose was to help upgrade the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons in response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program...
— the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshalls
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...
. Following that duty she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
and homeported at Norfolk
Naval 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...
.
In January 1955 Oak Hill returned to San Diego and Pacific Fleet duty, departing for her first regular WestPac deployment 31 March. During her 1958 WestPac tour she supplied Nationalist Chinese offshore islands as they withstood shelling by Chinese Communist guns. After 1965, her annual western Pacific deployments took her to South East Asia where she supported Naval operations in strife-torn South Viet Nam. Operating primarily in the 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...
– Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...
areas, she performed assignments as far south as the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
and visited ports in 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...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and 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...
as well as in the Philippines.
Oak Hill was decommissioned on 26 October 1969, and stricken 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 31 October 1969.
She was sold for scrapping, 15 April 1970, to Marine Power and Equipment Co., Seattle Washington.
Oak Hill (LSD-7) earned five battle stars for 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...
service and six campaign stars for Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
service.