USS Grundy (APA-111)

USS Grundy (APA-111) was a Windsor-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. She was commissioned late in the war and initially assigned to transport duties; consequently she did not take part in any combat operations.

History
United States
Name: Grundy
Namesake: Counties in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding
Launched: 16 June 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs Lena Moore Gnatt
Commissioned: 3 January 1945
Decommissioned: 8 May 1946
Fate: Scrapped in 1973
General characteristics
Class and type: Windsor-class attack transport
Displacement: 8,393 tons (lt)
Length: 492 ft
Beam: 69 ft 6 in
Draft: 26 ft 6 in
Propulsion: Steam turbine engine, single propeller, 8,000shp
Speed: 18 knots
Capacity:
  • Troops: Officer 94 Enlisted 1,463
  • Cargo: 150,000 cu ft, 1,600 tons
Complement: Officer 42 Enlisted 434
Armament: 1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mounts, 2 x Bofors 40mm gun mounts, 2 x twin 20mm gun mounts, 18 x single 20mm gun mounts
Notes: MCV Hull No. ?, hull type C3-S-A3

Grundy was launched under Maritime Commission contract 16 June 1944 by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi; and commissioned 3 January 1945, Captain J. M. Cabanillas in command.

World War II

After loading supplies at New Orleans, the new transport conducted shakedown training out of Galveston, Texas, until 28 January 1945. She departed 4 February for her first assignment, as school ship for pre-commissioning crews at Newport, Rhode Island. Arriving Newport 10 February, Grundy held underway drills and training for the crews of nearly finished ships, helping to speed their delivery as active fighting units. This duty was completed 31 March, and Grundy sailed for Hampton Roads.

The ship arrived Norfolk, Virginia, 1 April and immediately embarked Seabees for transportation to the Pacific. Departing 14 April, she sailed to Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal, arriving there 2 May 1945. At Pearl Harbor Grundy performed amphibious exercises and loaded cargo and passengers for the western Pacific. She departed 7 June; stopped at Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan; and anchored 1 July at Ulithi to join an Okinawa-bound convoy.

Grundy departed in convoy for battle-scarred Okinawa 10 July, and after her arrival 4 days later unloaded her troops and cargo. She then sailed to Ulithi and Peleliu to bring troops from those islands to Guam, where she arrived 31 July. Grundy remained there until 2 August when she got underway for Pearl Harbor, unloading her supplies upon arrival 10 August. The war ended while Grundy was on her way to San Diego, where she arrived 19 August.

After hostilities

Her troop spaces loaded with replacement units, Grundy sailed from Seattle 1 September 1945, and after a stop at Eniwetok arrived Leyte 19 September. There she remained until 26 September, when the transport group of which she was a part departed for Yokohama with occupation troops. Arriving in Japan 4 days later, Grundy put ashore her contingent of the occupation forces, embarked veteran troops, and sailed for San Francisco 8 October. She arrived 19 October 1945.

Operation Magic Carpet

The busy transport's next duty was as part of the Magic-Carpet fleet, performing the gigantic task of returning the thousands of servicemen to the United States from the Pacific. Carrying replacement troops, she sailed 26 October for Okinawa, arriving 12 November. She then sailed for Shanghai, China, with troops to aid in the occupation and to help stabilize the tense situation there. Grundy arrived Shanghai 17 November, and sailed 23 November to embark a group of soldiers for transportation to Seattle from Korea. The transport sailed from Jinsen 5 December and arrived at her revised destination, Portland, Oregon, on Christmas Day 1945.

Decommission

Designated for return to the Maritime Commission, Grundy sailed via San Francisco and the Panama Canal to Norfolk, where she arrived 8 March 1946. She decommissioned 8 May, and was returned to the Maritime Commission 13 May. The ship was subsequently acquired by Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., in 1948, and renamed Mormacsurf. In 1966 she was part of a six-ship west coast fleet sold to Grace Lines, serving as Santa Anita. She was scrapped in 1973.

References

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


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