USS Crittenden

USS Crittenden (APA-77) was a Gilliam-class attack transport that served with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was sunk as a target in 1948.

Crittenden in February 1946
History
United States
Name	USS Crittenden (APA-77)
Namesake	Crittenden County, Arkansas Crittenden County, Kentucky
Builder	Consolidated Steel
Launched	6 November 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. W.R. Boyd
Acquired	16 January 1944
Commissioned	17 January 1945
Decommissioned	28 August 1946
Fate	Scuttled after an explosives test, 5 October 1948
General characteristics
Class and type	Gilliam-class attack transport
Displacement	4,247 tons (lt), 7,080 t.(fl)
Length	426 ft (130 m)
Beam	58 ft (18 m)
Draft	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	Westinghouse turboelectric drive, 2 boilers, 2 propellers, Design shaft horsepower 6,000
Speed	17 knots
Capacity	47 Officers, 802 Enlisted
Crew	27 Officers, 295 Enlisted
Armament	1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 4 x twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 x single 20mm gun mounts
Notes	MCV Hull No. ?, hull type S4-SE2-BD1

History

Crittenden was named after counties in Arkansas and Kentucky. Crittenden (APA-77) was launched 6 November 1944 by Consolidated Steel at Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 16 January 1945; and commissioned the next day.

Sailing from San Diego 14 March 1945, Crittenden conducted training at Pearl Harbor until 24 May, then loaded troops and cargo at San Francisco for Okinawa, arriving 5 August. She survived a typhoon which struck the island.

After hostilities

She sailed 23 August for Manila, arriving 27 August, and from 15 September to 21 October carried occupation troops from Leyte to Wakayama and Mitsuyama, Japan, then returned to Okinawa 27 October. Assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, she made two voyages from Okinawa and Samar to San Francisco between 10 November 1945 and 24 January 1946.

Operation Crossroads

During Operation Crossroads

Crittenden put out from San Pedro 16 February 1946 to join JTF-1 for Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. She was taken to Kwajalein 27 August 1946 and decommissioned the next day. She suffered radiation and shock wave damage from the test.

After study, she was towed back to San Francisco on 1 January 1947 and sunk in an explosives test off the Farallone Islands on 5 October 1948. Her wreck became a fisheries habitat.

References

• Crittenden (APA-77), DANFS Online.
• APA-77 Crittenden, Navsource Online.

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