_at_anchor%2c_in_1945-1946_(NH_80017).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSWheatland |
| Namesake | Wheatland County, Montana |
| Builder | North Carolina Shipbuilding Company,Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Laid down | 17 July 1944 |
| Launched | 21 September 1944 |
| Commissioned | 3 April 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 25 April 1946 |
| Renamed |
|
| Stricken | 8 May 1946 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Tolland-classattack cargo ship |
| Displacement | 13,910 long tons (14,133 t) full |
| Length | 459 ft 2 in (139.95 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) |
| Speed | 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement | 395 |
| Armament |
|
USSWheatland (AKA-85) was aTolland-classattack cargo ship in service with theUnited States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1973.
Wheatland was named afterWheatland County, Montana. She was laid down as aType C2-S-AJ3 ship on 17 July 1944 atWilmington, North Carolina, by theNorth Carolina Shipbuilding Company under aMaritime Commission contract (MC hull 1397); launched on 21 September 1944; sponsored by Miss Shirley B. Anderson; transferred to the Navy on 6 October 1944; converted to an attack cargo ship in New York by theAtlantic Basin Iron Works; andcommissioned on 3 April 1945.
Commissioned two days after the beginning of the last amphibious operation ofWorld War II, theOkinawa invasion,Wheatland never saw service in the role for which she had been converted. Instead of operating as anattack cargo ship during amphibious assaults, she spent her brief Navy career laboring as a conventional cargo ship and as a troop transport in support of the occupation of former Japanese possessions.
Following shakedown training and amphibious exercises atHampton Roads,Virginia, and post-shakedown availability at theNorfolk Navy Yard, the ship departed theChesapeake Bay on 7 May with 5,038 tons of dry cargo. Steaming in company withBegor,Cavallaro,Lee Fox, andJohn Q. Roberts, she set a course forHawaii. Parting company with the high-speed transports atPanama, she transited the canal on 14 May and continued her voyage toOahu independently. She arrived inPearl Harbor on 28 May and immediately unloaded her cargo. The ship remained in theHawaiian Islands for three weeks, during which she conducted a series of amphibious exercises at the island ofMaui.
On 21 June, she departed Pearl Harbor with elements of theUnited States Army'sIX Corps embarked. After stops atEniwetok andUlithi, she arrived atLeyte in thePhilippine Islands on 7 July. There, she disembarked the troops and unloaded much of her cargo. On 9 July, she moved toSamar Island, where she discharged the remainder of her cargo. From there, she moved to thePalau Islands, departing Samar on 16 July and arriving atAngaur on 18 July. She spent the next two days loading aUnited States Marine Corps anti-aircraft unit and, on 21 July, got underway to return toOahu.
After a brief stop atEniwetok for fuel on 26 July, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on 1 August. She discharged her cargo and disembarked her passengers and then began an availability which lasted until 22 August.
On 23 August, she moved toHilo where she began embarking elements of the5th Marine Division. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 August and remained there until 1 September when she got underway forSasebo, Japan, in company with a 34-ship convoy. She made a three-day stop atSaipan along the way and arrived at Sasebo early on 22 September. She discharged her cargo over the next three days and departed Sasebo on 25 September.
Wheatland enteredSubic Bay in the Philippines on 30 September and, the next afternoon, moved toLingayen Gulf where she loaded men and equipment of the US Army's32nd Division for transportation to Japan. On 9 October, she stood out of Lingayen Gulf on her way toKyūshū, Japan. The attack cargo ship arrived in Sasebo early in the morning of 16 October and began disembarking the troops later in the day.
Returning to the United States viaOkinawa andGuam,Wheatland arrived inSeattle,Washington, on 13 November. Later that month, she visitedSan Francisco for two weeks before embarking upon a voyage to theMarianas on 13 December. She arrived at Guam on 28 December and later visited Saipan whence she departed the Marianas on 22 January 1946. Steaming via thePanama Canal, the ship arrived inNorfolk, Virginia, on 21 February. She made one more voyage in her naval career – a round trip toNew York and back to Norfolk between 28 February and 5 March – before beginning inactivation preparations at Norfolk.
Wheatland was placed out of commission at Norfolk on 25 April 1946, and custody was transferred to theMaritime Administration the next day and berthed with many of her sister ships in thereserve fleet, James River Group, atLee Hall, Virginia. Her name was struck from theNavy List on 8 May 1946.
Ex-USSWheatland was sold on 3 April 1947 toA. H. Bull Steamship Company of New York, New York and renamed SSBeatrice. Seized by theUS Marshals Service, she was sold at auction on 13 March 1964 to First Ship & Steel Corp who in turn re-sold her to Bermuda Shipping Corp on 15 April 1964. Bermuda renamed her SSBangor and leased her out for operations by the Waterman Steamship Corporation. On 8 December 1967, she was sold again to North East Shipping Corporation and renamed SSGrand Loyalty; the vessel was re-flagged Panamanian at this time as well. Sold for the final time in December 1973, the ship was broken up for scrap inKaohsiung, Taiwan.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.