_at_Norfolk%2c_Virginia_(USA)%2c_on_28_October_1944_(80-G-385310).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSDauphin (APA-97) |
| Namesake | Dauphin County, Pennsylvania |
| Builder | Bethlehem Steel |
| Launched | 10 June 1944 |
| Sponsored by | Miss B. Conway |
| Acquired | 23 September 1944 |
| Commissioned | 23 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 30 April 1946 |
| Honours and awards | Onebattle star forWorld War II service |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1979 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Windsor-classattack transport |
| Displacement | 7,970 tons (lt), 13,132 t. (fl) |
| Length | 473 ft 1 in (144.20 m) |
| Beam | 66 ft (20 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion | Bethlehem geared turbine drive, 2 ×Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, single propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,000 |
| Speed | 18.6 knots (34.4 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | Officer 54 Enlisted 498 |
| Armament | 1 x5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mounts, 2 xBofors 40 mm L/60 gun mounts, 2 x twin20mm gun mounts, 18 x single 20 mm gun mounts |
| Notes | MCV Hull No. 1675, hull type C3-S-A3 |
USSDauphin (APA-97) was aWindsor-classattack transport that served with theUnited States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service in 1948 and was scrapped in 1979.
Dauphin (APA-97) was named afterDauphin County, Pennsylvania.Dauphin (APA-97) was launched 10 June 1944 byBethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard,Sparrows Point, Maryland, under aMaritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 23 September 1944; and commissioned the same day.
Dauphin reported toNewport, Rhode Island 29 October 1944 for duty training precommissioning crews of transport and cargo ships, so serving 36 ships. Clearing Newport 20 January 1945 she arrived atNorfolk, Virginia the next day to load cargo, and on 13 February got underway for thePacific.
She embarked troops and combat cargo atPearl Harbor between 5 and 29 March, and arrived atUlithi staging point for theOkinawa operation 15 April. She sailed from Ulithi on the 22d to land reinforcements atHagushi Beach, Okinawa, from 26 to 30 April. Carrying casualties, she called atSaipan and arrived atSan Francisco 22 May.
A week laterDauphin was underway for thePhilippines. From 27 June until the end of the war she carried troops fromNew Guinea to the Philippines.
On 26 August,Dauphin sailed fromBatangas Bay,Luzon, with occupation troops. She anchored inTokyo Bay the day of surrender, 2 September, and from 4 September to 27 October made four similar voyages carrying troops from the Philippines toJapan. Assigned to theOperation Magic Carpet fleet she made two voyages carrying home veterans fromSasebo, Japan, andSan Pedro Bay, Leyte, between 6 November 1945 and 17 January 1946.
On the last day of January she put out for the east coast, arriving at Norfolk 17 February.Dauphin was decommissioned there 3 April 1946 and delivered to theWar Shipping Administration the next day for disposal.Dauphin was sold for commercial service in 1948, being refurbished as passenger-cargo shipSSExochorda, and later becomingSSStevens, a floating dormitory forStevens Institute of Technology.[1] She was scrapped in 1979.
Dauphin earned onebattle star forWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
