USS Randall (APA-224)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Randall |
| Builder: | Permanente Metals Corp. |
| Laid down: | 15 September 1944 |
| Launched: | 15 November 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 12 December 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 April 1956 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1960 |
| Fate: | Laid up at Mobile, Alabama, until sold in 1971 for scrap at Wilmington, Delaware |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Haskell-class attack transport |
| Displacement: | 6,873 long tons (6,983 t) |
| Length: | 455 ft (139 m) |
| Beam: | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Oil Fired Steam Turbine 1 shaft |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Boats and landing craft carried: | 26 |
| Complement: | 56 Officers, 480 Enlisted |
| Armament: | • 1 × 5"/38 caliber guns • 1 × quad 40 mm gun • 4 × twin 40 mm guns • 10 × single 20 mm guns |
USS Randall (APA-224) was a Haskell-class attack transport of the United States Navy. She was named after Randall County, Texas and was commissioned on 12 December 1944, under the command of Captain Harold Stevens.
Service history
After training, the ship left for Pearl Harbor on 9 February 1945. She then sailed to the Volcano Islands. She arrived at Iwo Jima on 5 March, unloaded Army personnel and supplies, and uploaded Marines on their way to Guam. The ship returned to Pearl Harbor on 20 April. She next carried petroleum products to Kwajalein and took on Navy and Marine personnel for return to the USA. Arriving in San Francisco on 18 June, she proceeded to Ulithi, picked up Army units, and then continued to Okinawa, returning on 12 August. At the end of the war she brought members of the US Armed Forces from Okinawa to Seattle.
Comedian Soupy Sales served on Randall during the war and entertained his shipmates with zany vignettes featuring White Fang, the meanest dog that ever lived.[1]
Post-World War II Service
When World War II ended, she transported Army and Marine personnel from various points in the Pacific to the US mainland. From 1952 until her decommissioning, the ship sailed from Hampton Roads and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek often berthing at NOB Pier 2. Between 1952 and 1955, she made numerous trips to the Caribbean for training purposes and a six-month training cruise to the Mediterranean. She had a total of three Captains – Nicholas Frank, Henry Sturr and Christopher Brackstone, all Naval Academy graduates. In 1954 she received the "E" award for her class.
In 1956 USS Randall was used in the filming of Away All Boats, mainly around St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.
References
- ↑ David Hinckley (23 October 2009). "Friend remembers Soupy Sales as someone who'd 'do anything for you'". New York Daily News.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
