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USS Wyandot (AKA-92)
Encyclopedia
USS Wyandot (AKA-92) was an named after Wyandot County, Ohio
Wyandot County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,908 people, 8,882 households, and 6,270 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 9,324 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
. She served as a commissioned ship for 20 years and 1 month.
Wyandot (AKA-92) was laid down on 6 May 1944 under a Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
contract (MC hull 1192) at Oakland, California, by the Moore Dry Dock Co.; launched on 28 June 1944, acquired by the Navy and simultaneously 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 30 September 1944, Comdr. E. G. Howard in command.
Wartime service
Following her shakedown, Wyandot departed San Francisco on 25 November 1944, bound for the Hawaiian IslandsHawaiian 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...
. She made port at 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...
on 2 December and, after loading cargo earmarked for 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...
and 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...
, headed for Eniwetok 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...
. After delivering her cargo to those western Pacific bases, the attack cargo ship returned to the Hawaiian Islands.
Wyandot departed Pearl Harbor on 26 January 1945 and proceeded thence via Eniwetok to Tacloban where she joined the forces massing for the assault on 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...
. Assigned to a support role with the amphibious forces, Wyandot — partially unloaded — was returning from a night retirement alert about 0400 on 29 March when a Japanese horizontal bomber, probably on a night heckler mission, came in off Wyandot's starboard quarter and dropped a pair of bombs, one of which hit close aboard the ship's starboard quarter, sprinkling her stern with what appeared to be picric acid
Picric acid
Picric acid is the chemical compound formally called 2,4,6-trinitrophenol . This yellow crystalline solid is one of the most acidic phenols. Like other highly nitrated compounds such as TNT, picric acid is an explosive...
.
The second bomb plunged into the water near the attack cargo ship's starboard side and scored an underwater hit, making two large cracks in her hull. The two forward holds and the forward magazine flooded quickly, and Wyandot listed slightly to starboard. Putting the remainder of her landing craft and boats in the water, the vessel painfully made her way to an advanced repair base, down by the bow and steaming slowly, but still afloat.
Within a short time, the ship's force, aided by the salvage experts of the repair unit, had made the necessary temporary repairs; Wyandot consequently returned to her place off the beaches of Okinawa and continued discharging ammunition, vehicles, gasoline, provisions, and special equipment earmarked for the American 10th Army on Okinawa.
Wyandot, her mission at Okinawa completed, sailed for the west coast of the United States, via Pearl Harbor, for permanent repairs and reached the Naval Dry Docks at Terminal Island
Terminal Island
Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...
, 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...
, California, on 6 June. After brief periods at San Diego, and later San Francisco, Wyandot headed for Pearl Harbor once more—but too late to participate in any further combat operations. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 28 August.
Wyandot subsequently visited the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
that autumn, departing Pearl Harbor on 7 October and visiting, in succession, Okinawa; Tientsin, China; Guam; Eniwetok; and 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...
before returning to Pearl Harbor on 27 November. The next day, the cargo ship got underway for the Atlantic; steamed via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
; and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia
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...
, on 19 December.
Post-war service
Wyandot operated out of Norfolk for the next two years. Early in 1947, she departed the Hampton RoadsHampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area and took part in the 1947 Atlantic Fleet
United States Fleet Forces Command
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...
exercises—maneuvers that took the ship as far as Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
in the British West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
. Departing Trinidad on 8 March, the attack cargo ship took part in further exercises before she made a transatlantic passage to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, French Morocco
French Morocco
French Protectorate of Morocco was a French protectorate in Morocco, established by the Treaty of Fez. French Morocco did not include the north of the country, which was a Spanish protectorate...
. Staying at Casablanca from 24 March to 30 March, Wyandot returned via New Orleans to Norfolk on 30 April.
Again operating off the eastern seaboard early that summer, Wyandot subsequently headed for her first deployment in Arctic
Arctic
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, departing Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
on 16 July 1947 for Thule, Greenland, and Devon
Devon Island
Devon Island , claimed to be the largest uninhabited island on Earth, is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth largest island, and the 27th...
and Cornwallis
Cornwallis Island, Nunavut
Cornwallis Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. It lies to the west of Devon Island and at its greatest length is about . At ) in size, it is the 96th largest island in the world, and...
islands. Returning to Boston on 25 September, Wyandot spent the next year operating along the eastern seaboard and gulf coast of the United States, as well as making two cruises to the Caribbean and one to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
.
On 16 July 1948, Wyandot departed Boston, visiting the Arctic again as part of the Navy's annual cold-weather exercises in those climes. She revisited the bases she had called upon the previous year and returned to Boston on 18 September, en route to Norfolk.
Over the next two years, Wyandot operated out of Norfolk and made her first Mediterranean deployment, visiting ports in Italy and French Morocco; the island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
; Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
; Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
; Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
; the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
; Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
; Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
; Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
; Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
; the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
; and Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Netherlands West Indies.
Early in 1951, Wyandot was selected to participate in Operation "Bluejay"—transporting construction materials to the northern part of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
—and was busy in that mission from May to September of that year. She returned to that area in 1952 as part of Operation "SuNAC" (Supply Northern Atlantic Construction). The following year, Wyandot conducted logistical support missions in the Caribbean and later participated in the joint United States and Canadian resupply operations with Arctic weather stations. Wyandot again deployed to the Mediterranean and Caribbean areas between 1953 and 1955, winning the coveted Battle Efficiency Award
Battle Efficiency Award
The Battle Effectiveness Award , commonly known as the Battle "E", is awarded annually to the small number of U.S...
for 1955.
In the spring of 1955, Wyandot joined Task Force 43 for "Operation Deep Freeze I"
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...
in the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
. After a brief yard availability, the ship loaded supplies and equipment at Davisville, Rhode Island
Davisville, Rhode Island
Davisville, Rhode Island was the former home of the U.S. Navy SeaBees. It was located at Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay, an area now included in the town of North Kingstown. The Navy acquired the property in 1939 and built Naval Air Station Quonset Point...
, and shifted to Norfolk, from whence she departed on 14 November. Sailing via the Panama Canal and Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
, Wyandot arrived at McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound
The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...
, Antarctica, on 27 December. While in those cold southern latitudes, she served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, officer-in-charge of the Antarctic programs.
She was then assigned to "Operation Deep Freeze II"
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...
in 1956. Wyandot rendevoused with near the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
before both continued on for Antarctica, arriving on 15 December at the Weddell Sea
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha Coast, Queen Maud Land. To the east of Cape Norvegia is...
pack ice and then breaking through the Antarctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs south of the Equator.-Description:...
on 20 December en route to Cape Adams
Cape Adams
Cape Adams is an abrupt rock scarp marking the south tip of Bowman Peninsula and forming the north side of the entrance to Gardner Inlet, on the east coast of Palmer Land in Antarctica. It was discovered by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition , 1947–48, under Ronne, and named by him for Lt....
. In 1957 Staten Island led Wyandot from Cape Adams to Gould Bay
Gould Bay
Gould Bay is a bay located at the junction of Filchner Ice Shelf with the northeast corner of Berkner Island, in the southern Weddell Sea. It was discovered by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition , 1947–48, under the leadership of Commander Finn Ronne, U.S. Navy Reserve, who named this bay for...
where Ellsworth Station
Ellsworth Station
The Ellsworth Station was an Antarctic base established by the United States during the 1957 International Geophysical Year. The base was soon handed over to Argentina and subsequently abandoned and covered with ice in 1962.-History:...
was then assembled.
After establishing the base at "Little America", Wyandot returned home and operated with the Atlantic Fleet into the late 1950s.
Recommissioned in Transportation Service
Wyandot was decommissioned on 10 July 1959 and 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 July 1960, however, the ship was reinstated on the list because of the increased east-west tensions
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
over the crisis situation in Berlin
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
.
Recommissioned in November 1961, Wyandot was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
(MSTS) in March 1963 and reclassified as T-AKA-92. Later reclassified as T-AK-283, Wyandot served with MSTS, Atlantic, through the 1960s and was shifted to MSTS' successor organization, the Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
(MSC) by October 1973, and to MSC, Pacific, by 1 July 1974.
Decommissioning and sale
On 31 October 1975, Wyandot was placed in the United States Maritime Administration 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...
. She was sold for scrap on 5 November 1987 to Nissho Iwai Corp. of Japan and scrapped in Taiwan .