Cottle (APA-147)
1944-1946
A county in the state of Texas.
(APA-147: displacement 6,873; length 445'0"; beam 62'0"; draft 24'0"; speed 17.7 knots; complement 536; troops 1,561; armament 1 5-inch, 12 40 millimeter, 10 20 millimeter; class Haskell; type VC2-S-AP5)
Cottle (APA-147) was launched on 25 November 1944 by Kaiser Co., Inc., Vancouver, Wash., under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.V. Hull 812); sponsored by Mrs. B. Decker; transferred to the Navy 14 December 1944; and commissioned the same day, Cmdr. Philip S. Creasor in command.
Sailing from Seattle 1 March 1945 with Army troops on board, Cottle carried her passengers to Honolulu where she embarked men of naval construction battalions for transportation to Samar, P.I., arriving 17 April. Returning by way of Ulithi and Guam to load passengers, cargo, and Japanese prisoners of war, she arrived at Pearl Harbor 24 May to embark four underwater demolition teams for San Francisco, arriving 3 June. From 15 June to 7 August she voyaged to Manila with Army troops.
With the end of the war Cottle sailed from San Pedro 24 August, loaded Army occupation troops at Pearl Harbor, and landed them at Wakayama, Japan, 27 September. She embarked homeward bound servicemen in the Philippines, returning with them to San Francisco 30 October, and following another "Magic Carpet" voyage to the Philippines, sailed from San Francisco 12 January 1946 for Norfolk, arriving 4 February. Cottle was decommissioned on 6 March 1946 and returned to the Maritime Commission 11 March 1946. She was stricken from the Navy Register on 20 March 1946.
Interim Update, Robert J. Cressman
Comprehensive Historey in Preparation
8 March 2023
