La Porte (APA-151)
1944-1946
A county in northwestern Indiana.
(APA-151: displacement 6,873 (light); length 455'1"; beam 62'; draft 24'; speed 17.7 knots; complement 536; troop capacity 1,561; armament 15-inch; 12 40 millimeter, 10 20 millimeter; class Haskell; type VC2-S-AP5)
La Porte (APA-151) was laid down on 15 May 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C, Hull 117) at Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Shipbuilding Group; launched on 30 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Charles N. Niles; and commissioned on 14 August 1944, Cmdr. Marion C. Thompson in command.
After shakedown, La Porte departed San Francisco, Calif., on 22 October 1944 to join the Pacific amphibious forces. Arriving at Milne Bay,. New Guinea, on 8 November for training operations, the attack transport sailed from Manus, in the Admiralty Islands, on 2 January 1945 for Luzon, Philippines. La Porte steamed into Lingayen Gulf nine days later and debarked troops and equipment despite attacks of enemy aircraft. Her mission completed, she returned to Leyte on 16 January to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa.
With 1,500 troops embarked, La Porte departed San Pedro Bay on 27 March 1945 as part of the largest amphibious operation of the. Pacific war. Troops hit the beach on 1 April to begin the invasion which placed an Allied garrison next door to Japan. Two days later, a kamikaze dived at the transport, but antiaircraft fire splashed the raider before he reached his mark. Departing Okinawa on 5 April La Porte arrived San Francisco three weeks later for a brief replenishment period.
Returning to Ie Shima on 14 July 1945, the transport disembarked 1,300 Army Engineer replacements before she once again sailed for the United States. She arrived at San Francisco on 10 August: and, after hostilities with Japan ended, La Porte prepared for occupation duty in the Far East. With 1,146 replacements on board, the transport departed San Francisco and debarked troops at Leyte on 15 September. During the next two months, La Porte operated in the western Pacific, transferring troops into the occupied territories of Japan and liberated areas of China. She embarked homeward bound servicemen and sailed from Manila on 25 November, arriving at Seattle three weeks later. La Porte arrived at Norfolk on 14 February 1946 and decommissioned there on 25 March 1946. She was returned to the War Shipping Administration three days later. She was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
La Porte received one battle star for her World War II service.
