.gif)
USS Sevier (APA-233)
Encyclopedia
USS Sevier (APA-233) was a that saw service with the US Navy in World War II
.
Sevier was named after counties in Arkansas
, Tennessee
, and Utah
. She was laid down on 4 October 1944 under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull MCV 679) by Kaiser Shipbuilding of Vancouver, Washington
; launched on 16 November 1944, and commissioned on 5 December 1944, Capt. A. R. Ponto in command.
, on 20 December for San Pedro, California, where she underwent shakedown from 27 December 1944 to 26 January 1945. Sailing from Los Angeles
on 6 February, she underwent a week of training near Pearl Harbor
, and then continued westward to Eniwetok, where on 28 February, she joined a convoy bound for Iwo Jima
.
, T. H., on 5 April; and then underwent repairs to her main thrust bearing from 6 to 30 April at Pearl Harbor.
Embarking 1,193 officers and men of the 125th Construction Battalion and 171 marines, Sevier left Pearl on 12 May with a convoy, which, after a brief stop at Eniwetok, arrived at Ulithi
on 26 May.
.
. Sailing from Pearl on 1 September, she stopped at Saipan
from 13 to 16 September and entered Sasebo
, Japan, on 22 September where she unloaded her troops and supplies.
Underway three days later, she arrived at Manila
on 30 September and then embarked more occupation troops in Lingayen Gulf
from 3 to 6 October. Underway on 9 October, the transport arrived at Sasebo on 14 October and disembarked her troops between 20 and 22 October.
Assigned next to Operation Magic Carpet, Sevier sailed from Sasebo on 23 October; and, on 27 and 28 October, embarked servicemen at Saipan for the trip home to the United States. She disembarked them at San Francisco on 10 November, and, after moving to Bremerton, Washington, sailed from there on 24 November to bring home troops from Guam
and Manus
. Returning to Seattle on 29 December, Sevier remained inactive at Port Angeles from 31 December 1945 to 6 March 1946, when she was assigned further duties supporting occupation troops in the western Pacific.
After a voyage to Pearl Harbor and back, Sevier sailed from San Francisco on 16 April for Yokosuka where she arrived on 29 April. Sailing again on 3 May, she touched at Midway
on 9 May; and then arrived at Pearl on 13 May. There, she was assigned the duty of evacuating personnel from Bikini
in preparation for the atomic bomb tests.
Departing Pearl on 28 May, she was at Kwajalein
and Bikini from 3 to 8 June before sailing for San Francisco, where she arrived on 18 June. She remained on the west coast
until sailing on 7 September 1946 from San Diego for Yokosuka, where she arrived on 23 September.
The transport departed Yokosuka on 26 October and spent the next three months at anchor in Chinese
ports: at Tsingtao from 29 October 1946 to 15 January 1947 and at Chinwangtao from 16 to 22 January. Sailing for home, she stopped at Guam from 27 to 31 January and at Pearl Harbor from 8 to 13 February before arriving at San Francisco on 18 February to prepare for deactivation.
there on the same day. She was struck from the Navy List on 23 June 1947. On 1 January 1969, she was redesignated LPA-233. She was sold for scrapping on 15 February 1980.
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...
.
Sevier was named after counties in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. She was laid down on 4 October 1944 under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull MCV 679) by Kaiser Shipbuilding of Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
; launched on 16 November 1944, and commissioned on 5 December 1944, Capt. A. R. Ponto in command.
World War II
Sevier departed 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...
, on 20 December for San Pedro, California, where she underwent shakedown from 27 December 1944 to 26 January 1945. Sailing from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on 6 February, she underwent a week of training near 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 then continued westward to Eniwetok, where on 28 February, she joined a convoy bound for 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...
.
Invasion of Iwo Jima
Sevier was held in a waiting station 100 miles (160.9 km) off the island of Iwo Jima until 14 March, when she anchored to evacuate marines of the 4th Division who had participated in the assault. Departing Iwo Jima on 20 March, she disembarked the marines at MauiMaui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, T. H., on 5 April; and then underwent repairs to her main thrust bearing from 6 to 30 April at Pearl Harbor.
Embarking 1,193 officers and men of the 125th Construction Battalion and 171 marines, Sevier left Pearl on 12 May with a convoy, which, after a brief stop at Eniwetok, arrived at 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...
on 26 May.
Invasion of Okinawa
Sevier was held at Eniwetok until 13 June; and then ordered to Okinawa, where she arrived on 17 June. During her two days and nights anchored off Okinawa, Sevier worked continuously unloading the Seabees and marines and their equipment. Underway on 19 June, she witnessed the intensive air and sea bombardment of the southern end of the island, before setting course for the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Repairs
Sevier arrived at San Francisco on 13 July and then proceeded to the Everett Pacific Shipyard near Seattle for repairs to her propeller shaft. Sevier returned to San Francisco on 27 July, sailed for Pearl Harbor on 1 August, and arrived there on 7 August.After hostilities
Sevier joined in the celebration of VJ-Day at Pearl Harbor and, on 26–27 August, embarked troops at Hilo Harbor for the occupation of JapanJapan
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...
. Sailing from Pearl on 1 September, she stopped 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...
from 13 to 16 September and entered Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, Japan, on 22 September where she unloaded her troops and supplies.
Underway three days later, she arrived at Manila
Manila
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,...
on 30 September and then embarked more occupation troops in 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...
from 3 to 6 October. Underway on 9 October, the transport arrived at Sasebo on 14 October and disembarked her troops between 20 and 22 October.
Assigned next to Operation Magic Carpet, Sevier sailed from Sasebo on 23 October; and, on 27 and 28 October, embarked servicemen at Saipan for the trip home to the United States. She disembarked them at San Francisco on 10 November, and, after moving to Bremerton, Washington, sailed from there on 24 November to bring home troops from 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...
and 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...
. Returning to Seattle on 29 December, Sevier remained inactive at Port Angeles from 31 December 1945 to 6 March 1946, when she was assigned further duties supporting occupation troops in the western Pacific.
After a voyage to Pearl Harbor and back, Sevier sailed from San Francisco on 16 April for Yokosuka where she arrived on 29 April. Sailing again on 3 May, she touched at Midway
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
on 9 May; and then arrived at Pearl on 13 May. There, she was assigned the duty of evacuating personnel from Bikini
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in preparation for the atomic bomb tests.
Departing Pearl on 28 May, she was 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 Bikini from 3 to 8 June before sailing for San Francisco, where she arrived on 18 June. She remained on the west coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
until sailing on 7 September 1946 from San Diego for Yokosuka, where she arrived on 23 September.
The transport departed Yokosuka on 26 October and spent the next three months at anchor in Chinese
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...
ports: at Tsingtao from 29 October 1946 to 15 January 1947 and at Chinwangtao from 16 to 22 January. Sailing for home, she stopped at Guam from 27 to 31 January and at Pearl Harbor from 8 to 13 February before arriving at San Francisco on 18 February to prepare for deactivation.
Decommission
Sevier was decommissioned at Suisun Bay, California, on 30 April 1947 and delivered to the Maritime Commission's National Defense Reserve FleetNational 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...
there on the same day. She was struck from the Navy List on 23 June 1947. On 1 January 1969, she was redesignated LPA-233. She was sold for scrapping on 15 February 1980.