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Suffolk (AKA-69)

1944-1946

Counties in the states of Massachusetts and New York.

(AKA-69: displacement 13,910; 1ength 459'2"; beam 63'0"; draft 25'4"; speed 16.5 knots; complement 395; armament 1 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 20 millimeter; classTolland; type C2-S-AJ3)

Suffolk (AKA-69)  was laid down on 11 July 1944 at Wilmington, N.C.,  by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. Hull 1396); launched on 15 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. W. T. Dixon; and commissioned on 23 October 1944, Cmdr. Elmer C. Clusman, D-V(S), USNR, in command.

Suffolk, after outfitting, got underway for the Charleston [S.C.] Navy Yard where she was depermed on 19 November 1944 and, on the 25th, began her shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay. After a post-shakedown availability period, she sailed for the Panama Canal Zone on 11 December and arrived at San Francisco, Calif., on 29 December 1944, four days after Christmas. She loaded cargo on 10 January 1945 and sailed the following week for Manus, Admiralty Islands.

Suffolk arrived at Seeadler Harbor on 3 February 1945, discharged part of her cargo and proceeded on to New Guinea, arriving at Hollandia on the 7th. She embarked the men of a naval beach party and sailed for the Philippine islands on 9 February. She disembarked her passengers at Leyte on the 17th, and off-loaded the cargo at Samar between 19 February and 3 March. She returned to Leyte where she combat-loaded troops and cargo.

Suffolk sortied with Task Group (TG) 51.1, the Western Islands Attack Force, on 21 March 1945 for Kerama Retto. She arrived there four days later, and Army troops landed on 26 March. The ships came under almost daily air attack and, on 2 April, a kamikaze crashed Henrico (APA-45) and the ship lost all power. Suffolk passed a tow line to the crippled attack transport and then towed her to comparative safety at Kerama Retto. Suffolk remained at Okinawa until 30 April when she got underway for Saipan. She was ordered to return to the United States via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor.

Suffolk arrived at San Francisco on 24 May 1945 and proceeded to Seattle for repairs and loading. On 16 June she stood out to sea, en route to Eniwetok, Saipan, and the Bonin Islands, arriving at Iwo Jima on 7 July. All cargo was discharged within three days, and the ship headed back to San Francisco. She arrived on 26 July. Japan ceased hostilities on 14 August, but the cargo ship continued loading cargo and embarking passengers. She stood out of San Francisco on 20 August and steamed to the New Hebrides Islands.

Suffolk arrived at Espiritu Santo on 4 September 1945; discharged cargo and passengers; and sailed for Leyte on the 6th. She arrived there on 15 September, and loaded troops and cargo earmarked for Hokkaido, Japan. Suffolk departed the Philippines on 26 September and arrived at Otaru, Hokkaido, on 5 October; disembarked her troops; and departed for Guam the next day.

Suffolk loaded elements of the Sixth Marine Division at Guam and sailed, on 22 October 1945, with Transport Division 35 for China. Reaching Tsingtao on 28 October, the ship remained there until 4 November when she was ordered to return to the United States, via Okinawa. She arrived at Portland, Oregon, where she landed her passengers before proceeding to the east coast. She reported to the Fifth Naval District in March 1946 for layup with the reserve fleet in the James River.

Suffolk was decommissioned on 27 June 1946 and returned to the War Shipping Administration on 28 June, entering the James River portion of the Reserve Fleet at 11:30 a.m. and being moored in Unit N-3 off Lee Hall, Virginia.  She was stricken from the Navy Register on 19 July 1946.

Suffolk remained in the James River until she was towed by a vessel of the Moran Towiong & Transportation Co., Inc., on 15 January 1947, clearing the waters off Lee Hall at 12:15 p.m. that day to proceed to Todd Shipyards at Hoboken to be reconverted., arriving at her destination on 29 January, a fortnight later. Purchased  by the South Atlantic Steamship Line at 2:28 p.m. on 25 August 1947, Suffolk was renamed Southport at Savannah, Georgia.

Sold to the United States Lines Co. at noon on 7 September 1960, the ship was renamed American Retailer on 13 April 1961. Returned to the Maritime Administration (the successor agency to the Maritime Commission), at Norfolk, Va., at 4:00 p.m. on 3 July 1963, the ship then came under the ownership of the Alcoa Steamship Co., becoming Alcoa Master. The former attack transport became the property of the Columbia Steamship Co., on 16 October 1969, becoming Columbia Star. Inside of a year's time, on 10 October 1970, the well-traveled merchantman became Antillian Star, flying the flag of the Netherlands. Ultimately, the ship was broken up for scrap in 1971 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Suffolk received one battle star for her World War II service., for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto  (29 March-30 April 1945).

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

18 March 2024

Published: Mon Mar 18 15:12:09 EDT 2024