_underway_in_1944.jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSLycoming |
| Namesake | Lycoming County, Pennsylvania |
| Ordered | as type VC2-S-AP5 |
| Laid down | 30 May 1944 |
| Launched | 25 July 1944 |
| Acquired | 20 September 1944 |
| Commissioned | 20 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 14 March 1946 |
| Stricken | 28 March 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 12,450 tons (full load) |
| Length | 455 ft 0 in (138.68 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft 0 in (18.90 m) |
| Draught | 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m) |
| Speed | 19 knots |
| Complement | 536 |
| Armament |
|
USSLycoming (APA-155) was aHaskell-classattack transport in service with theUnited States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1973.
Lycoming was laid down 30 May 1944 by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.,Portland, Oregon, under aUnited States Maritime Commission contract; launched 25 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Schuyler N. Pyne, wife of Captain (later Rear Admiral) Pyne; acquired by the Navy and commissioned atAstoria, Oregon, 20 September 1944.
After shakedown off theU.S. West Coast,Lycoming sailed intoSeattle, Washington, 1 November 1944 to serve as atraining ship for newattack transport crews. Testing her own training, she departed theU.S. West Coast, with 1,411 troops embarked, forPearl Harbor and the westernPacific Ocean. ArrivingLeyte,Philippine Islands, 24 February, she was assigned toTransport Squadron 13 which was already rehearsing for theOkinawa invasion. Despite enemykamikaze attacks she debarked 1,294 officers and men of theArmy's 7th Division Artillery with their ordnance and supplies on this enemy bastion between 1 and 5 April. Her mission accomplished, she returned to the United States 11 May for additional troops.
Within a week 1,200 additional men were on their way toManila. After her arrival 12 JuneLycoming was temporarily transferred to theU.S. 7th Fleet to relocate troops fromNew Guinea to thePhilippines. Released after one voyage, she sailed back toSan Francisco, California, arriving 3 August.
Lycoming was at sea headed for theMarianas with Army troops whenJapan surrendered 2 September. ReachingSaipan 9 September, she was assigned totask force TF 54 transporting occupation troops to Japan. With her quarters filled with2d Division Marines. she sailed with 20 other transports for a peaceful debarkation atNagasaki, Japan, 23 September.
Her final voyages were made as part of the "Operation Magic Carpet" fleet. Embarking 2,400 veterans in theNew Hebrides andNew Caledonia, she landed them at San Francisco 13 November. By mid December,Lycoming embarked 2,013 officers and men atOkinawa and proceeded homeward arrivingSeattle, Washington, early in January 1946.
The transport arrivedNorfolk, Virginia, 9 February, decommissioned 14 March 1946, and was returned toWar Shipping Administration (WSA) on the 21st.Lycoming entered theNational Defense Reserve Fleet and was berthed inJames River, Virginia. She was later struck from theNavy List on 28 March 1946 and was sold for scrapping on 9 April 1973 to Union Minerals & Alloys for $111,560.00.Lycoming was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 6 June 1973.
Lycoming received onebattle star forWorld War II service.American Campaign Medal,Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1),World War II Victory Medal,Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
