%2c_circa_1945-1946_(1465419178862).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSNiagara (APA-87) |
| Namesake | Fort Niagara, taken from theBritish in theWar of 1812 |
| Builder | Consolidated Steel |
| Laid down | 20 November 1944 |
| Launched | 10 February 1945 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Fred G. Gurley |
| Acquired | 26 March 1945 |
| Commissioned | 29 March 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 12 December 1946 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 5 February 1950 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gilliam-classattack transport |
| 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 | 16.9knots |
| Capacity | 47 Officers, 802 Enlisted |
| Crew | 27 Officers, 295 Enlisted |
| Armament | 1 x5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 4 x twin40mm gun mounts, 10 x single20mm gun mounts |
| Notes | MCV Hull No. 1880, hull type S4-SE2-BD1 |
USSNiagara (APA-87) was aGilliam-classattack transport that served with theUnited States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1950.
Niagara was named afterFort Niagara, a fort captured from theBritish byAmerican forces 28 November 1812; she was the eighthUS Navy ship to bear the name. She was laid down 20 November 1944 underMaritime Commission contract byConsolidated Steel atWilmington, California; launched 10 February 1945; acquired by the Navy 26 March 1945; and commissioned atSan Pedro, California, 29 March 1945.
Followingamphibious warfare training out ofSan Diego,Niagara sailed 26 May 1945 with cargo and 887Marines, whom she landed atPearl Harbor 1 June. In the following weeks she transported troops, cargo, ammunition, and mail between the variousHawaiian Islands.
She stood out of Pearl Harbor 1 July bound, via theMarshalls andCarolines, forOkinawa, arrivingBuckner Bay 5 August. After debarking 903 Army troops and their combat support weapons and cargo, she departed 8 August with 40 officers and 771 men of the 81st Naval Construction Battalion for debarking atGuam in theMarianas. She arrived Apra Harbor on the morning of 15 August, the day ofJapan's capitulation.[1]
Niagara transported Navy passengers from Guam to thePhilippines, arrivingSan Pedro Bay 20 August. She then set course forCebu to embark the Army's 164th Regimental Combat Team, sailed 1 September, arrivedYokohama the 8th, and landed her occupation troops. She again headed for the Philippines 16 September to embark men of the Army's 305th Infantry, 77th Division, landed atOtaru,Hokkaidō,Japan, 5 October. From there, she carried men of the Navy's 128th Construction Battalion toApra Harbor.
She stood out from Apra Harbor 22 October with an Army signal battalion bound forChina. The attack transport reachedTientsin 29 October and sailed 10 November for theMarianas. JoiningOperation Magic Carpet, the massive operation to return demobilizing servicemen, she embarked Army troops inTanapag Harbor,Saipan, Marianas; sailed the 20th; and reachedSan Francisco 4 December.
Niagara departed San Francisco 20 December forSamar,Philippine Islands, arriving 10 January 1946. While there, she received word that she would participate in theatomic bomb tests ofOperation Crossroads as a unit ofJoint Task Force 1. She put to sea 3 February to prepare at Pearl Harbor, then sailed toBikini Atoll in theMarshalls, the location of the tests, arriving 31 May.
A target ship,Niagara survived the atomic explosions of 1 and 25 July. She departed Bikini 21 August for and towed the battleshipUSS Pennsylvania (BB-38) toKwajalein for tests, and Pearl Harbor en route to San Francisco, arriving 16 September.
Niagara remained on thewest coast until she departedSan Diego 7 November, steaming via thePanama Canal toHampton Roads, Virginia. She arrivedNorfolk, Virginia on 2 December and decommissioned there 12 December 1946.
After serving to test the effects of special conventional explosives in theChesapeake Bay,Niagara was sold for scrapping on 5 February 1950 to the Northern Metals Company ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
