_underway_off_Guantanamo_Bay%2c_Cuba%2c_circa_1948-1949.jpg) Kleinsmith underway off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,ca. 1948-49. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSKleinsmith (DE-718) |
| Namesake | Charles Kleinsmith |
| Ordered | 1942, asBuckley-class destroyer escort |
| Builder | Defoe Shipbuilding Company,Bay City, Michigan |
| Reclassified | APD-134, 17 July 1944 |
| Laid down | 8 August 1944 |
| Launched | 27 January 1945 |
| Commissioned | 12 June 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 16 May 1960 |
| Stricken | 16 May 1960 |
| Fate | Transferred to theRepublic of China, 16 May 1960 |
| History | |
 Taiwan | |
| Name | ROCSTien Shan (APD-215) |
| Acquired | 16 May 1960 |
| Reclassified | PF-615 |
| Decommissioned | 1997 or 1998 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Crosley-classhigh speed transport |
| Displacement | 1,450 long tons (1,473 t) |
| Length | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 23knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range |
|
| Boats & landing craft carried | 4 ×LCVPs |
| Troops | 162 troops |
| Complement | 204 (12 officers, 192 enlisted) |
| Armament |
|
USSKleinsmith (APD-134), ex-DE-718, was aCrosley-classhigh speed transport for theUnited States Navy. She was named for Chief Watertender Charles Kleinsmith (1904–1942), who was posthumously awarded theNavy Cross for his heroism during theBattle of Midway.
Charles Kleinsmith was born on 28 September 1904 inZionsville,Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 26 October 1922 as anapprentice seaman. Until honorably discharged on 5 October 1926 asfireman second class, he served on board several ships, including thebattleshipsUSS Wyoming andUSS Maryland.
Kleinsmith reenlisted in the Navy on 20 December 1928, and during the next 11 years he had duty on board thelight cruisersUSS Milwaukee andUSS Cincinnati, theheavy cruiserUSS Portland and the light cruiserUSS Honolulu. He reported aboard theaircraft carrierUSS Saratoga on 27 December 1939 and transferred to the aircraft carrierUSS Yorktown on 31 October 1940. He achieved the rank ofchiefwatertender.
During theBattle of Midway on 4 June 1942, Chief Watertender Kleinsmith maintained auxiliary power onYorktown after an intenseImperial Japanese Navy bombing attack extinguished the fires in all of herboilers but one. At the end of the attack, Kleinsmith was missing and presumed dead. He was posthumously awarded theNavy Cross.
Originally aRudderow-classdestroyer escort designatedDE-718,Kleinsmith was re-designated asAPD-134 on 17 July 1944, even before being laid down on 30 August 1944 at theDefoe Shipbuilding Company,Bay City, Michigan. She waslaunched on 27 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Agnes Kleinsmith. Builders trials before her pre-commissioning cruise were done inLake Huron.
After completion,Kleinsmith sailed from the builder's yard at Bay City toChicago, Illinois. From there, they went through theChicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and down theChicago River toJoliet, Illinois, where pontoons were attached to the ship so it could be pushed down theDes Plaines River,Illinois River, andMississippi River as part of a barge train. After arriving at theTodd Johnson Shipyard inAlgiers, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi atNew Orleans, the rest of the crew reported aboard, andKleinsmith was commissioned at New Orleans on 12 June 1945.
As an APD, her primary role was to land raiding parties on enemy beaches andUnderwater Demolition Teams (UDT) personnel on beach obstacle clearance operations. APDs also retained the sound gear and someanti-submarine weapons ofdestroyer escorts, and served as escorts to amphibious groups. Because they could take on extra personnel, they were often designated as rescue ships if a transport went down.
After shakedown out ofGuantanamo Bay,Kleinsmith arrived atNorfolk, Virginia, on 21 July. Departing on 4 August for the Pacific, the high-speed transport steamed via thePanama Canal,San Diego, andPearl Harbor, and reachedBuckner Bay,Okinawa, on 1 October. She operated between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands until 21 February 1946. She then sailed fromSasebo via theMarshall Islands and Pearl Harbor, arriving atSan Francisco on 24 March with 118 returning veterans embarked. Departing on 10 April, she proceeded via thePanama Canal to the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on 1 May 1946.
Based at Norfolk andNAB Little Creek, during the next six years,Kleinsmith operated along theAtlantic coast fromLabrador toVenezuela while conductingamphibious andanti-submarine operations. She served primarily as an amphibious command ship; many of her cruises carried her into theCaribbean, where she operated out ofPuerto Rico, theVirgin Islands, and Guantanamo Bay.
During January 1951, theKleinsmith embarked anUnderwater Demolition Team (UDT) at Little Creek to participate in the filming ofThe Frogmen, aHollywood film chronicling the adventures of the Navy's UDT divers in the Pacific during World War II. Departing Norfolk on 3 January 1951, the warship stopped atKey West,Florida, andCharlotte Amalie,St. Thomas,United States Virgin Islands, before commencing ten days of filming between 15 January and 6 February. According to the command historian, "Dana Andrews andRichard Widmark helped make the old 'klinker-dinker' a movie star."
Returning from the Caribbean on 13 February 1951,Kleinsmith departed Little Creek on 5 March on the first of four deployments to theMediterranean Sea. Arriving atGibraltar on 15 March with UDT personnel embarked, she deployed with the6th Fleet and participated in amphibious operations that ranged fromOran,Algeria, toPhaleron Bay,Greece. After serving as an amphibious control ship, she departed Gibraltar on 26 June for the United States, arriving at Little Creek on 6 July. On 19 July 1952, she departed for another four-month deployment with the 6th Fleet, and supported its important peace-keeping activities off the troubled lands of the Mediterranean.
Returning to Little Creek on 29 January 1955,Kleinsmith resumed operations along the eastern seaboard to the Caribbean. On 9 January 1957, she again departed for duty with the 6th Fleet, and for almost three months operated in the Eastern Mediterranean. In response to an urgent request fromKing Hussein ofJordan, whose government was threatened with leftist-oriented,Egyptian-supported subversion,Kleinsmith departedLa Spezia,Italy, on 25 April for theLevantine Coast. Arriving offBeirut,Lebanon, on 30 April, she joined ships of the 6th Fleet in a formidable display of seapower, designed to show U.S. determination that the integrity and independence of nations in theMiddle East would be guaranteed againstCommunist subversion or aggression. Remaining on station until 3 May, she then departedRhodes, Greece, on 18 May, and returned to Little Creek on 1 June.
Less than three months later,Kleinsmith sailed once again for the Mediterranean, arriving atPalermo, Sicily, on 15 September. During the previous August, a pro-Soviet takeover of the Syrian Army had threatened the stability of the Middle East. The high-speed transport proceeded to the Eastern Mediterranean on 19 September, and operated there to prevent aggression and to preserve peace. She departedBarcelona, Spain, on 4 November, and arrived back at Little Creek on 17 November.
In 1958,Kleinsmith continued her activities along the Atlantic coast. While operating out of Guantanamo Bay on 24 October, she rescued 56 U.S. citizens and 3 foreign nationals atNicaro, Cuba, where they were endangered by military operations between the Cuban Army and theFidel Castro's rebels. From 27 May to 3 August 1959, she cruised to theGreat Lakes via the newly openedSt. Lawrence Seaway. On 1 April 1960,Kleinsmith departed Little Creek for the Pacific. Steaming via the Panama Canal, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, andGuam, she arrivedTsoying,Taiwan, on 15 May.Kleinsmith was decommissioned on 16 May 1960, and was transferred the same day to the Nationalist Government of theRepublic of China.
.jpg)
The ship served in theRepublic of China Navy asROCSTien Shan (APD-315), (later renumbered 215, 615, and 815). In the early 1970s,Tien Shan was fitted with a second 5-inch/38 mount aft, aSea Chaparralsurface-to-air missile launcher, andASWtorpedo tubes. At this time, she was re-rated as apatrol frigate. In the 1980s,Tien Shan, and other surviving ships of her class which were also transferred to Taiwan, were assigned to the Customs Service Coastal Patrol command, where they patrolled theeconomic exclusion zone. In this role, their armament was reduced to just one twin 40 mm mount in front of the bridge. She was still active in this role in 1995. Her decommissioning year is variously reported as 1997 or 1998.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
