Tate (AKA-70)
1944-1946
A county in the northwestern corner of the state of Mississippi.
(AKA-70: displacement 13,910 (trial);; length 459'0"; beam 63'0"; draft 26'4" (limiting); speed 16.5 knots (trial); complement 395; armament 1 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 16 20 millimeter; class Tolland; type C2S-AJ3)
Tate (AKA-70) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull 1398) on 22 July 1944 at Wilmington, N.C., by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 26 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. C. E. Tate; delivered to the Navy on loan-charter on 3 November 1944; and commissioned at Charleston, S.C., on 25 November 1944, Lt. Cmdr. William Jordon, D-M, USNR, in command.
The attack transport completed shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay early in December 1944 and steamed to Davisville, R.I., to load Hawaii-bound cargo. She headed south on 30 December, transited the Panama Canal between 4 and 6 January 1945, and reached Pearl Harbor on the 18th. She remained in the Hawaiian Islands until 31 January when she departed Port Allen, Kauai Island, for the Marshall Islands.
Tate reached Eniwetok on 4 February 1945 and joined Transport Squadron 17, which soon departed for the Philippines. Proceeding via Ulithi Atoll and Kossol Roads, she reached Leyte Gulf on 21 February and made a shuttle run to Samar Island to discharge cargo and disembark passengers before beginning preparations for the upcoming invasion of Okinawa. After training for the assault, she combat-loaded the men and equipment of the U.S. Army's 77th Infantry Regiment at Tarranguna, Leyte, and on 21 March departed the Philippines with the Western Islands Attack Group. Her destination was Kerama Retto, a small group of islands located to the south and west of Okinawa, which became the fleet's stepping stone to Okinawa itself. Her soldiers and equipment went into action against the islands of Aka Shima, Kuba Shima, Yakabi Shima, and Zamami Shima. By the afternoon of 28 March, the islands of Kerama Retto were secured, and Tate joined the other ships in a waiting area.
The attack transport remained in the vicinity of Okinawa through three weeks of April 1945, also participating in the assault on le Shima during her last week in the area. On the 22nd, she headed for the Marianas, arriving at Saipan on 27 April. Five days later, she headed for the Solomon Islands. Tate embarked marines and loaded cargo at Guadalcanal and Tulagi between 8 and 17 May before heading back, via Eniwetok, to the Marianas. Reaching Guam on 4 June, she disembarked the marines and discharged her cargo. On the 13th, the attack transport got underway for the United States.
On 25 July 1945, Tate steamed out of San Francisco Bay to return to the combat zone. Stopping at Eniwetok from 5 to 10 August, she reached Guam on the 14th, the day before the cessation of hostilities. From there, she headed for Ulithi and thence, via Okinawa, to Jinsen [Inchon], Korea, for occupation duty. Tate returned to the Philippines early in October, visiting Manila and Subic Bay. After stops at Tsingtao, China, and Okinawa in late November, the attack transport steamed back to the U.S., arriving at Seattle on 13 December. She remained there until 26 February 1946, when she got underway for San Francisco. The ship loaded cargo between 1 and 16 March and then headed for Eniwetok and Kwajalein.
She discharged her cargo at the two atolls and got underway for Panama on 4 April 1946. Tate reached the Canal Zone on 23 April; but, instead of entering the canal, she remained on the Pacific side to help in the final removal of Americans from the air base at Seymour Island in the Galapagos. She returned to Balboa on 20 May, transited the canal, and reached Hampton Roads on 28 May. Tate was decommissioned on 10 July 1946 and, three days later, was returned to the War Shipping Administration.
Tate entered the James River fleet, Unit 12-S, on 13 July 1946, she remained there, at one point moored alongside sister ship Waukesha (AKA-84), for almost one year. Her name was stricken from the Navy Register on 19 July 1946.
Withdrawn on 2 June 1947, Tate was acquired on 12 November 1947 by the Luckenbach Steamship Co. of New York, N.Y., which renamed her Julia Luckenbach. Resold to States Marine Lines on 19 October 1959, the former attack cargo ship was then renamed Bay State, and operated as such until removed from active mercantile service. Ultimately, Li Chong Steel & Iron Works Co., Ltd., of Taiwan acquired the vessel for scrap on 12 November 1970.
Tate received one battle star for her World War II service, for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (26 March--22 April 1945).
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
21 June 2023
