USS Carteret (APA-70)

Career (USA)
Name: USS Carteret (APA-70)
Namesake: A county in North Carolina
Builder: Consolidated Steel
Launched: 15 August 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. A. Wright
Acquired: 2 December 1944
Commissioned: 3 December 1944
Decommissioned: 6 August 1946
Fate: Sunk as a target by USS Toledo (CA-133) after use as target in Operation Crossroads
General characteristics
Class and type:Gilliam-class attack transport
Tonnage:85,000 cu. ft., 2,600 t.
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:16.9 knots
Capacity:47 Officers, 802 Enlisted
Crew:27 Officers, 295 Enlisted
Armament:1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 4 x twin 40 mm gun mounts, 10 x single 20 mm gun mounts
Notes:MCV Hull No. 1863, hull type S4-SE2-BD1

USS Carteret (APA-70) was a Gilliam-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II.

Carteret was named after a county in North Carolina. She was launched 15 August 1944 by Consolidated Steel at Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; acquired by the Navy 2 December 1944; commissioned the next day, Lieutenant Commander J. L. Hunter in command, and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Operational history

Carteret sailed from San Diego 24 January 1945 carrying troops to Pearl Harbor.

Invasion of Iwo Jima

With a call en route at Saipan, she arrived off Iwo Jima to land troops and equipment in the invasion of the bitterly contested island 19 February. She remained off the island to support the hard-fighting Marines until 2 March, when she retired carrying casualties whom she took to Saipan.

Invasion of Okinawa

Carteret then sailed on to Tulagi and Espiritu Santo, arriving 19 March to load troops and vehicles designated as reinforcements for Okinawa. The attack transport reached the Okinawa beachhead 9 April 1945, and for the next seven days followed the pattern of unloading by day, and retirement seaward by night. Unscathed by the fury of the Japanese kamikaze attacks, she returned to Ulithi for repairs 23 April.

On 16 May she got underway for Palau, Cebu, and San Pedro Bay, P.I., at which points she embarked passengers for transportation to San Francisco, where she arrived, 27 June. After brief repairs at Seattle, Washington, she sailed 17 July for duty in the redeployment of troops and equipment in the Pacific.

After hostilities

Carteret called at Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, and Leyte, where she embarked occupation troops for Jinsen, Korea. Another voyage from the Philippines to Jinsen preceded her employment from 24 October 1945 to 2 March 1946 in two voyages from Japan and Okinawa to the west coast returning servicemen.

Operation Crossroads

After special training at Pearl Harbor, Carteret was transferred to JTF-1 for use in the atomic bomb experiments at Bikini Atoll, known as Operation Crossroads, between 28 May and 27 August. Carteret was decommissioned 6 August 1946, and upon the completion of the tests, was towed to Kwajalein for study. There she was sunk by USS Toledo (CA-133) on 19 April 1948.

Carteret received two battle stars for World War II service.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.