Natrona (APA-214)
1945-1958
A county in the state of Wyoming.
(APA-214: displacement 6,873; length 455'0"; beam 62'0"; draft 28'1"; speed 17.0 knots; complement 536; troop capacity 1, 561; armament 1 5-inch, 12 40 millimeter, 10 20 millimeter; class Haskell; type VC2-S-AP5)
Natrona (APA-214), was laid down on 30 June 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.V. Hull 562) at Richmond, Calif., by the Permanente Metals Corp.; launched on 27 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Anna Louise Spigler; acquired and commissioned by the Navy on 8 November 1944, Capt. Eric E. Winquist in command.
Following shakedown off Southern California, Natrona sailed for the Territory of Hawaii, on 3 January 1945, as a unit of Transport Squadron 17. At Pearl Harbor she debarked Marines; loaded men and equipment of the 806th Engineering Battalion; and continued her westward passage on the 16th. By 1 February she reached Saipan, debarked her passengers and cargo, and sailed to Ulithi. There she took on Marine night fighters and sailed for Leyte to prepare for Operation Iceberg, the invasion of the Ryukyus.
On 21 March 1945, Natrona, with Marine night fighters and 77th Infantry Division men and equipment on board, departed Dulag in TG 51.1. Early on the 26th she arrived off Kerama Retto and proceeded to area "Jig." At 0539 she lowered away nine wave guide boats, then moved to "Transport Area Fox" where at 0705 she had her first experience with Japanese kamikazes. After that air attack she moved to "Inner Transport Area George" to commence discharging her cargo of fuel and ammunition into small craft. At 1951 she proceeded to the night retirement area.
Until the 30th Natrona continued daylight replenishment of small craft in area "George," with nightly retirements. On 1 April, Okinawa was invaded and on the 2nd the Kerama Retto anchorage was the scene of a 13-hour battle against suicide planes, swimmers and boats. On the 6th, the anchorage was subjected to its most severe kamikaze attack, during which Natrona bagged her first unassisted kill.
On the 7th, she completed unloading 77th Division cargo. The following day she crossed to the Hagushi Beach area of Okinawa to debark the Marine night fighters and then returned to Kerama Retto to transport the C.O., General Bruce, and staff of the 77th Division to the same location.
Between 14 April and 10 July 1945, Natrona remained anchored at Kerama Retto, serving as station and receiving ship. She also acted as Fleet Post Office, headquarters for ComDesRon 2 and ComRepDesPac, Fleet Replacement Center, Fog Oil coordinator and distributor, and subsistence center for crews of damaged and sunken ships. On 10 July, the transport shifted to Buckner Bay and on the 15th departed for the U.S., a veteran of 16 weeks and 208 air attacks in Okinawan waters.
Natrona arrived at San Francisco on 5 August 1945. Celebrating the end of the war there, she got underway again on the 20th on the first of two extended transpacific runs carrying replacement troops to forward areas, occupation troops to Japan, arid returning veterans to the United States. On 13 January 1946, she completed her second cruise at San Pedro. Moving to Mare Island, she underwent inactivation overhaul, and on 29 July decommissioned and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Stockton, California.
Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MarAd) Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, Calif., at 3:00 p.m. on 26 August 1958, Natrona was stricken from the Navy Register on 1 October 1958. Sold to the Nicolai Joffe Corp., for scrap, on 5 March 1975, the veteran of Pacific Theater service was delivered to her purchaser and removed from the Reserve Fleet at 12:30 p.m. on 1 April 1975 to be broken up.
Natrona received one battle star for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (26 March--30 June 1945).
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
27 March 2023
