USS
Chilton APA 38
- DANFS history
Named after a county in Alabama.
Bayfield Class APA
Chilton (APA-38) was launched 29
December 1942 by Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif., under
a Maritime Commission contract, as Sea Needle; sponsored by Mrs. W. A.
Riley, Jr.; acquired by the Navy 29 May 1943; converted at New York Navy
Yard; and commissioned 7 December 1943, Commander A. C. Geisenhoff, USNR,
in command.
Chilton served at Newport as a
training ship for precommissioning crews of attack transports from 31
January 1943 to 15 October 1944. She sailed from Boston 20 November for
San Diego before arriving at Pearl Harbor 23 January 1945. Here she
embarked troops, and sailed by way of Eniwetok and Ulithi, to Leyte,
arriving 21 February. After rehearsal landings, Chilton put out of
Leyte 16 March to land troops at Kerama Retto 26 March in a key
preliminary to the assault on Okinawa. She remained off Okinawa as
flagship for Transport Squadron 17 supporting the establishment and
reinforcement of beachheads until 30 April, departing then for San
Francisco and overhaul.
Chilton returned to Ulithi 17
July 1945 to load troops and cargo for Okinawa, where she lay until 31
August. From then until 8 December, when she arrived at Seattle, Chilton
had duty in the redeployment of United States and Chinese troops,
calling at Jinsen, Tientsin, Hong Kong, Chinwangtao, Tsingtao, and Nagoya.
She cleared Seattle 21 December for the first of two "Magic
Carpet" voyages to the Philippines and Okinawa to carry home
servicemen, returning from the second of these to San Francisco 10 May
1946. She cleared San Francisco 2 June to participate in the atomic bomb
tests at Bikini, returned to San Francisco 1 August, and sailed for
transport duty in China and Japan from 7 September to 22 January 1947. She
visited the Bikini area as a floating laboratory that summer, then
returned to San Diego for local operations.
Chilton cleared San Diego 15
November 1948 to withdraw Marines from China, returning to San Diego 31
May. Local operations and exercises in the Hawaiian Islands occupied her
until 25 November 1949 when she sailed from San Diego for her new home
port, Norfolk, arriving 10 December. Local operations, overhaul, and
service as a training ship in Cuban waters preceded her first tour of duty
in the Mediterranean, 11 June-20 December 1951. On 21 August 1952, she
sailed from Norfolk to participate in NATO Operation "Mainbrace",
proceeding to the Mediterranean for duty until 6 February 1953. Chilton
has continued to alternate local and Caribbean operations with tours
of duty in the Mediterranean from 1954 through 1963.
Chilton received one battle star
for World War II service.
Specifications:
Displacement 6,873 t.(lt) 14,837 t.(fl)
Length 455'
Beam 62'
Speed 17.7 kts. (trial)
Complement
Officers 56
Enlisted 480
Troop Accommodations
Officers 86 Officers
Enlisted 1,475
Cargo Capacity 150,000 cu. ft, (non-refrigerated) 2,900 tons
Boats 2 LCM, 12 LCVP, 3 LCPU
Armament
one single 5"/38 cal dual-purpose
gun mount
four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
one quad 40mm AA gun mount
ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
Fuel Capacities
NSFO 7,780 Bbls
Diesel 970 Bbls
Propulsion
one Westinghouse geared turbine
two Babcock and Wilcox header-type
boilers, 465psi 750°
double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gear
three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
single propeller, 8,500shp
