Tabora (AKA-45)
1945-1946
Named for minor planet number 721 of the solar system. Discovered in 1911, the new body was named in 1913 during a conference held in Hamburg, Germany, on board the steamship Tabora of the Deutsche Ost Afrika Linie.
(AKA-45: displacement 6,740 (full load); length 426'0”; beam 58'0”; draft 15'6"; speed 17.0 knots; complement 303; armament 1 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 12 20 millimeter; class Artemis; type S4-SE2-BE1)
Tabora (AKA-45) was laid down on 4 March 1945 under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. Hull 1906) at Providence, R.I., by the Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc.; launched on 3 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur W. Devine; and commissioned on 29 May 1945, Lt. Cmdr. Olaf C. Erickson, D-M, USNR, in command.
Tabora departed Boston on 9 June 1945 and, after nine days of shakedown training out of Hampton Roads, Va., headed for France, reaching Marseilles on 7 July. Underway for Panama the following week, she reached Cristobal on the 28th, and transited the Panama Canal two days later. Next setting course for the Marshall Islands, she arrived at Eniwetok on 22 August and, the next day, pushed on toward the Philippines. Upon arriving at San Fernando, Leyte, Philippine Islands, on the last day of August, the ship was assigned to the Fifth Fleet Amphibious Force.
Tabora embarked troops and loaded vehicles of the U.S. Army's 33rd Infantry Division and sailed on 20 September 1945 for Japan. She arrived at Wakayama, Honshu, on the 25th, unloaded; and, the next day began the return trip to the Philippines, arriving in San Pedro Bay on 3 October to fuel from the tanker Signal (IX-142). Underway for Davao Gulf on the morning of 7 October; three days later, she began embarking troops of the Army’s 24th Division (10-11 October). She sailed for Japan on the 15th.
She stood in to Matsuyama, Shikoku, on the afternoon of 22 October 1945, completing the unloading/disembarking process during the second dog watch the following day, at which point she reported to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for further orders. At noon on the 24th, Tabora was assigned to Commander, Service Force, Pacific, for Magic Carpet duty, returning veterans to the United States. On the last day of October, she got underway for Buckner Bay, Okinawa; embarked 340 marines; and sailed for San Francisco.
Undated three-quarter port side view of Tabora at anchor, as indicated by the black ball seen suspended from the rigging over the forward part of the ship. (Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 78599)
Tabora continued shuttling troops from Pacific bases to the United States until early 1946 when she was scheduled for inactivation. Tabora was decommissioned on 29 May 1946, returned to the Maritime Commission on 30 June, when she was placed in the Reserve Fleet berthing area at Olympia, Wash., in area D-17, at 8:00 a.m. on 1 July 1946. She was stricken from the Navy Register on 3 July 1946.
Other than being removed from the Reserve Fleet to undergo repairs by the Olympia Steamship Co. as part of the regular maintenance program (transferred to that firm under a general agency agreement (from 5:00 a.m. on 1 August 1955 to 2:20 p.m. on 26 September 1955). Ultimately, she was advertised for sale as scrap on 21 September 1964 and purchased by Zidell Explorations, Inc., on 12 October 1964, which removed the vessel at 9:12 a.m. on 30 October 1964.
Commanding Officers Date Assumed Command
Lt. Cmdr. Olaf C. Erickson, D-M, USNR 29 May 1945
Lt. Cmdr. W. R. Hays 6 September 1945
Capt. Earle C. Hawk 31 January 1946
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
29 August 2024
