USS Effingham (APA-165)

USS Effingham (APA-165) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1973.

History
United States
NameUSS Effingham
Namesake
Orderedas type VC2-S-AP5
Launched29 September 1944
Acquired19 July 1944
Commissioned1 November 1944
Decommissioned17 May 1946
FateSold for scrapping, 9 April 1973
General characteristics
Class and typeHaskell-class attack transport
Displacement12,450 tons (full load)
Length455 ft 0 in (138.68 m)
Beam62 ft 0 in (18.90 m)
Draught24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
Speed19 knots
Complement536
Armament

History

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Effingham was launched 29 September 1944 by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, Oregon, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. J. C. Casada; transferred to the Navy 19 July 1944; and commissioned 1 November 1944.

World War II

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Sailing from San Francisco, California, 2 January 1945, Effingham trained at Guadalcanal with the 1st Marines, then staged at Ulithi for the invasion landings on Okinawa 1 April. For 6 days she remained off the island, unloading her cargo and fighting off enemy air attacks. She returned to San Francisco for overhaul, then arrived back at Okinawa 12 August.

With the end of the war, she transported troops to Jinsen, Korea, and Taku, China, for the reoccupation of those countries. In October and November she embarked Chinese troops at Hong Kong for transfer to Chinwangtao and Qingdao. She returned to the U.S. west coast in December bringing home servicemen, and after a similar voyage to the Far East on "Operation Magic Carpet" duty (which also returned Mochitsura Hashimoto to Japan after he testified at the Charles B. McVay III court-martial), sailed for the U.S. East Coast.

Decommissioning and fate

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She was decommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, 17 May 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal 3 days later. Effingham was sold for scrapping on 9 April 1973 to Union Minerals & Alloys for $111,560.00.

Awards

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Effingham received one battle star for World War II service.

References

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  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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