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Renville (APA-227)

1944-1976 

Counties in the states of Minnesota and North Dakota.

(APA-227: displacement 14,837; length 455'; beam 62'; draft 24'; speed 18 knots; complement 533; troop capacity 1,562; armament 1 5-inch, 12 40-millimeter; 26 20-millimeter; class Haskell; type VC2-S-AP5)

Renville (APA-227) was laid down on 19 August 1944 at Vancouver, Wash., by the Kaiser Co., under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.V. Hull 673); launched on 25 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Orpha Penderville; and commissioned on 15 November 1944, Capt. William W. Ball in command.

Following her shakedown out of San Diego, Calif., Renville sailed in January 1945 for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, where in March she embarked 1,620 combat-ready troops for the invasion of Okinawa. Her assault boats transported the men to the beach at Okinawa on 1 April. Departing on the 5th, she steamed via Saipan and Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. During the remainder of the war, she transported troops and supplies between various Pacific Islands and the United States. In September, she carried 1,436 Allied prisoners of war from Japan to Manila. In 1946 she returned additional troops to the United States, and then operated along the Pacific coast. Operating in the western Pacific, she was ordered to Batavia, Java, in December 1947, where Renville became Headquarters ship for the U.N. Truce Commission that negotiated settlement terms between Dutch military forces and Indonesian nationalists. The ensuing agreement was denoted “The Renville Truce.” After operating off the west coast of the U.S. from May 1948 to January 1949, she voyaged to China later in January, and returned 8 February.

Decommissioned on 30 June 1949 at Mare Island, Calif., she was recommissioned on 5 January 1952 for service in the Korean War. Departing San Francisco for the western Pacific on 13 November 1952, she shuttled troops between Japan and Korean ports such as Pusan and Inchon. After June 1953, she steamed to San Diego.

Sailing for the western Pacific in September 1954, she carried marines to Kobe, Japan, and conducted amphibious training in Korea, before returning to San Diego on 17 March 1955. Departing San Diego in August, she participated in a landing exercise at Iwo Jima in February 1956, and returned to San Diego in March. In January 1957, she joined a landing exercise at Camp Pendleton. On WestPac tour from February to September, she joined a major landing exercise on eastern Luzon in March and another in the Pohang-Dong area of Korea in June.

After duty at Eniwetok from January to June 1958, she operated in the western Pacific from October 1958 to March 1959. In May 1959 she participated in a landing exercise at Camp Pendleton. On WestPac tour from October 1959 to April 1960, she was station ship at Hong Kong in January and February, and participated in a joint landing exercise at Taiwan in March. Again in the Far East from April to 5 December 1961, she sailed to Okinawa, Subic Bay, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Yokosuka. Following west coast duties in early 1962, she headed for the Caribbean on 27 October 1962 in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, returning to San Diego on 13 December. Deployed to WestPac from December 1962 to May 1963, she ended 1963 in west coast operations.

Sailing for WestPac in June 1964, she participated in the filming off Oahu, Hawaii, of Otto Preminger's motion picture “In Harm’s Way” in July. In response to tensions in the Gulf of Tonkin in August, she ranged the coast of Vietnam from Da Nang to Saigon with 1,350 marines on alert status for 67 consecutive days. Replenished at Yokosuka, she performed similar duty off Vietnam in November, before returning to San Diego on 18 December, a week before Christmas.

After a landing exercise at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in March 1965, her WestPac tour of May to August took her to Hawaii, Okinawa, Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Sasebo, and Yokosuka. After local duty, she began her WestPac tour of March 1966 to October, carrying marines to Okinawa and Chu Lai, Vietnam, before serving as station ship at Da Nang in August and September.

Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MarAd) for custody at 12:40 p.m. on 26 April 1967, she joined the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, Calif., at that time. At noon on 23 April 1968, a little less than one year later, the Navy permanently transferred the vessel to MarAd. Although inactive, she was redesignated as an amphibious transport, LPA-227, on 1 January 1969. Renville was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1976.

Taken from the Reserve Fleet for equipment removal (9:50 a.m., 12 March 1981 to 1:00 p.m., 7 April 1981), the vessel was traded out to Farrell Lines, Inc., of New York, for the C3-S-38a cargo vessel Ambassador, along with three other VC2-S-AP5-type ships, then resold to C. W. Enterprises & Investment Inc., a California-based corporation, for scrapping either in Taiwan or South Korea. The veteran of service in three wars was ultimately removed from MarAd custody at 10:50 a.m. on 23 April 1982 for her final voyage, to the shipbreakers.    

Renville received one battle star for her World War II service, two for Korea, and four for Vietnam.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

4 June 2020

 

 

Published: Thu Jun 04 10:40:49 EDT 2020