Monitor II (AN‑1)
1944-1961
The second Monitor was named to perpetuate the name carried by the ironclad of the Civil War.
(AN‑1: displacement 5,625; length 451'4"; beam 60'3"; draft 20'; speed 20.3 knots; complement 564; armament 2 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter; class Osage)
II
The second Monitor (AN‑1) was laid down on 21 October 1941 at Pascagoula, Miss., by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 29 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John A. Terhune; redesignated as a transport, AP‑160, on 2 August 1943; and first commissioned on18 March 1944. Due to delays in construction, however, the ship was transferred under her own power to Todd Shipyards, Brooklyn, N.Y., for completion. Reclassified to a vehicle landing ship, LSV‑5, on 2 April 1944, Monitor was commissioned on14 June 1944, Cmdr. J. B. McVey in command.
Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, Monitor steamed via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 10 August 1944. Embarking troops,and loading cargo and amphibious DUKWs, the ship joined the Third Fleet off Leyte in October, participating in the landings at Leyte Gulf on 20 October and then removing wounded for transport to Morotai. She returned to Leyte with reinforcements on 14 November and then sailed for Sansapor where she reloaded troops and equipment for the invasion of Luzon. Steaming for Lingayen Gulf, under air attack much of the way, the vehicle landing ship put her assault force ashore on 9 January 1945 and then stood by in support, splashing an enemy plane that night with only 28 rounds of 40 millimeter expended.
In the closing days of January 1945, the ship took part in two invasions in support of the Lingayen operation, the landing on San Felipe and La Paz on 29 January, and the landing of U.S. Army Rangers on Grande Island in Subic Bay on the 30th. Monitor then steamed for Guadalcanal where she embarked marines for transport to Okinawa, participating in the D‑Day landings on 1 April and then standing by off that hotly contested island until 10 May when she sailed for the United States.
During May, June, and July 1945, the ship made several trips between Pearl Harbor and the west coast with passengers and cargo and then in August proceeded to Saipan to embark medical people and supplies, departing on the 15th for Japan. Joining the Third Fleet off Tokyo, Monitor embarked 1,000 bluejackets from battleships Missouri (BB-63), Indiana (BB-58), Wisconsin (BB-64), Massachusetts (BB-59), and Alabama (BB-60) conducting the first landing on the Japanese homeland on 30 August. The ship then served as a hospital ship to assist in the removal of Allied prisoners of war, over 8,000 repatriates being received on board and helped on their way before the amphibious vessel departed Japan 19 September.
Returning to the United States, Monitor was assigned to operation Magic Carpet, the massive program to bring the troops home. She operated on that long but happy chore until decommissioning in the Reserve Fleet, Galveston, Tex., on 22 May 1947.
Reclassified as MCS‑5 on 18 October 1956 while still inactive, Monitor was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) berthing area, Beaumont, Texas, on 3 October 1960. Stricken from the Naval Register on 1 September 1961, the ship was removed from the NDRF by the Navy on 8 November 1972 for stripping. Re-entering the NDRF on 29 November 1973, ex-Monitor was sold on 15 July 1974 to Luria Brothers & Co., and was broken up for scrap.
Monitor (LSV-5) received two battle stars for her World War II service.
