USSOdum
History
United States
Name	USSOdum
Namesake	Fireman First Class Joseph R. Odum (1913–1942),U.S. NavySilver Star recipient
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation,Orange,Texas
Laid down	15 October 1943
Launched	19 January 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Katherine Odum
Reclassified	APD-71, 27 June 1944
Commissioned	12 January 1945
Decommissioned	15 November 1946
Stricken	1 November 1966[1] or 1 December 1966[2]
Fate	Transferred toChile
History
Chile
Name	Serrano (APD-26)
Acquired	15 November 1966
Stricken	1984
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Charles Lawrence-classhigh-speed transport
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m) overall
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) maximum
Installed power	12,000shaft horsepower (16megawatts)
Propulsion	Twoboilers; twoGEsteam turbines (turbo-electric transmission)
Speed	24knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Troops	162
Complement	186
Armament	1 ×5 in (130 mm) gun 6 ×40 mm guns 6 ×20 mm guns 2 ×depth charge tracks

USSOdum (APD-71), ex-DE-670, was aUnited States Navyhigh-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946.

Joseph Roy Odum was born on 9 February 1913 inJacksonville, Florida. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 20 June 1934. On 15 October 1942,Fireman First Class Odum was agunner on thedestroyerUSS Meredith when it was sunk byImperial Japanese Navy aircraft from theaircraft carrierZuikaku. He remained at hisbattle station after the order to abandon ship had been given so he could protect his shipmates in the water from beingstrafed by Japanese planes. He was still firing when the ship went under and was lost with the ship. He was posthumously awarded theSilver Star.

Odum was laid down as theBuckley-classdestroyer escort USSOdum (DE-670) by theConsolidated Steel Corporation atOrange,Texas, on 15 October 1943 andlaunched as such on 19 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Katherine Odum, mother of the ship's namesake. The ship was reclassified as aCharles Lawrence-class high-speed transport and redesignated APD-71 on 27 June 1944. After conversion to her new role, the ship wascommissioned on 12 January 1945.

Followingshakedown offBermuda,Odum transited thePanama Canal and proceeded up thePacific coast toSan Diego,California, whence she departed on 16 May 1945 forHawaii. There she completedamphibious warfare training offMaui, took onunderwater demolition team gear, and headed to theWestern Pacific forWorld War II service. Discharging her cargo atGuam, she proceeded toUlithi Atoll, whence she escortedtransportSSKote Baroe toLeyte in thePhilippine Islands, arriving there on 29 June 1945. From Leyte, escort missions took her again to Ulithi Atoll, thence toHollandia inNew Guinea, and back to Leyte.

At Leyte, in mid-August, following thesurrender of Japan on 15 August 1945,Odum joinedTask Force 33 and, on 31 August 1945, got underway to escort transports carrying troops for theoccupation of Japan. Arriving inJapan on 8 September 1945, she departed again on 12 September 1945 to escort transports carryingAllied formerprisoners of war to the Philippines.

Odum remained in the Far East supporting the occupation of Japan until late November 1945, when she headed back to theUnited States. Assigned to theUnited States Atlantic Fleet, she operated in TransportSquadron 2 along theUnited States East Coast and offCuba andPuerto Rico until entering theCharleston Naval Shipyard atCharleston,South Carolina, for inactivation on 26 July 1946, after which she proceeded toGreen Cove Springs,Florida fordecommissioning.

Odum decommissioned at Green Cove Springs on 15 November 1946 and entered the Florida Group of theAtlantic Reserve Fleet on theSt. Johns River there. Later transferred to the Texas Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet,Odum remained inactive inreserve for 20 years until stricken from theNavy List on either 1 November 1966^[1] or 1 December 1966.^[2]

Odum was sold toChile on 15 November 1966 under theMilitary Assistance Program. During thedictatorship of Pinochet, theSerrano was used for the transport of political prisoners toDawson Island.^[3] She served in theChilean Navy asSerrano (APD-26) until retired in 1984 and scrapped.

•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
• NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive USS Odum (APD-71)

• Charles Lawrence-class high speed transports
• Ships built in Orange, Texas
• 1944 ships
• Prison ships
• World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States
• World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
• Buckley-class destroyer escorts of the Chilean Navy
• Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs Group
• Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2021
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships