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Appanoose (AK-226)

1944-1945 

A county in southern Iowa. 

(AK-226: displacement 14,550; 1ength 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 28'4"; speed 12.5 knots; complement 209; armament 1 5-inch, 1 3-inch, 8 20 millimeter; class Crater; type EC2-S-C1)

A. J. Cassatt was laid down on 20 June 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract (MCE Hull 2662) by the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard Inc., Baltimore, Md.; launched on 27 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. A. J. Cassatt; acquired by the Navy on 10 August 1944; renamed Appanoose (AK-226); delivered at Baltimore; and commissioned on 26 September 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Volmer H. S. G. Holm in command.

On 1 October 1944, Appanoose proceeded to Chesapeake Bay for shakedown. After loading cargo at Davisville, R.I., the ship got underway for the Philippine Islands. Appanoose transited the Panama Canal; made intermediate stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi; and anchored at Tacloban, Leyte, on 21 December. Three days later, the ship moved to Samar to begin assembling pontoons. Despite enemy torpedo attacks, she successfully completed the task and withdrew to Tacloban on 21 January 1945.

Appanoose sailed on 23 January 1945, bound for the west coast. After a brief stop at Manus, the ship continued on to the California coast and arrived at San Pedro on 23 February. Appanoose departed the west coast on 9 March and sailed for the Ryukyus.

After stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi, Appanoose reached Okinawa on 28 April 1945 and began discharging her cargo at Buckner Bay on 3 May. During the three months Appanoose was stationed at Okinawa, she endured numerous Japanese air attacks. The ship claimed to have downed one Japanese plane and assisted in splashing four more.

On 5 August 1945, Appanoose departed the Okinawa area and sailed in a convoy to Saipan, her first port of call on a voyage that took her by way of Pearl Harbor, to San Francisco, Calif. Appanoose made San Francisco on 5 September and, shortly thereafter, began a period of drydocking and availability.

Upon completion of the repair work on 8 October 1945, Appanoose headed for the Canal Zone. Having transited the Panama Canal, the ship reported to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va., on 30 October. Appanoose was decommissioned there on 26 November 1945 and turned over to the War Shipping Administration, entering the Lee Hall, Va., berthing area of the Reserve Fleet the following morning (27 November 1945).  She was stricken from the Navy Register on 5 December 1945.

Delivered to Hinkins Steamship Agency, the agent for the Fordom Trading Co., on 13 October 1947, the former cargo vessel was delivered to her purchasers [Fordom] at Charleston, S.C., on 14 November 1947 to sail under the Panamanian flag as Santa Ana

Appanoose earned one battle star for her World War II service.

Published: Tue Jul 05 23:29:44 EDT 2016