USS Crittenden (APA-77)

USS Crittenden (APA-77) was a Gilliam-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. Commissioned late in the war, she was initially assigned to transport duties and consequently did not participate in combat operations.

Ships awaiting Operation Crossroads, 1946. In the foreground is Crittenden
History
United States
Name: USS Crittenden (APA-77)
Namesake: Counties in Arkansas and Kentucky
Builder: Consolidated Steel
Launched: 6 November 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. W. R. Boyd
Acquired: 16 January 1944
Commissioned: 17 January 1945
Decommissioned: 28 August 1946
Fate: Scuttled after an explosives test, 6 October 1947
General characteristics
Class and type: Gilliam-class attack transport
Tonnage: 85,000 cu. ft., 600 t.
Displacement: 4,247 tons (lt), 7,080 t.(fl)
Length: 426 ft (130 m)
Beam: 58 ft (18 m)
Draft: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion: Westinghouse turboelectric drive, 2 boilers, 2 propellers, Design shaft horsepower 6,000
Speed: 17 knots
Capacity: 47 Officers, 802 Enlisted
Crew: 27 Officers, 295 Enlisted
Armament: 1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 4 x twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 x single 20mm gun mounts
Notes: MCV Hull No. ?, hull type S4-SE2-BD1

Crittenden was named after counties in Arkansas and Kentucky. Crittenden (APA-77) was launched 6 November 1944 by Consolidated Steel at Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 16 January 1945; and commissioned the next day, Commander P. C. Crosley in command.

Operational history

Sailing from San Diego 14 March 1945, Crittenden conducted training at Pearl Harbor until 24 May, then loaded troops and cargo at San Francisco for Okinawa, arriving 5 August. She survived a typhoon which struck the island.

After hostilities

She sailed 23 August for Manila, arriving 27 August, and from 15 September to 21 October carried occupation troops from Leyte to Wakayama and Mitsuyama, Japan, then returned to Okinawa 27 October. Assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, she made two voyages from Okinawa and Samar to San Francisco between 10 November 1945 and 24 January 1946.

Operation Crossroads
During Operation Crossroads

Crittenden put out from San Pedro 16 February 1946 to join JTF-1 for Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. She was taken to Kwajalein 27 August 1946 and decommissioned the next day. She suffered radiation and shock wave damage from the test.

After study, she was towed back to San Francisco on 1 January 1947 and sunk in an explosives test off the Farallone Islands on 6 October 1947. Her wreck became a fisheries habitat.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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