Service history USS Winged Arrow (AP-170)

1 service history

1.1 saipan
1.2 tinian
1.3 lingayen gulf
1.4 leyte
1.5 okinawa
1.6 post-war
1.7 decommissioning , sale

service history
saipan

on 30 april, winged arrow put sea full complement of army replacement troops, bound oahu arrived on 6 may. there, practiced amphibious operations soldiers army s 27th division in preparation occupation of mariana islands. @ end of may, departed pearl harbor troops embarked, bound kwajalein in marshalls arrived on 9 june. since winged arrow s embarked troops assigned floating reserve, not scheduled on hand @ saipan on d-day . therefore, remained @ kwajalein several days before departing there on schedule calculated put off saipan on 17 june, 2 days after initial assault. following day, transferred troops lsts; , landed @ agingan point on saipan. transport retired eniwetok prepare second phase of marianas operation, landings on tinian.

tinian

after lengthy wait @ eniwetok occasioned unexpectedly difficult task of rooting out defenders of saipan, winged arrow returned island on 19 july , retracted units of 2nd marine division tinian assault. on morning of 24 july, , several other ships carried division, made of 2nd , 8th marine regiments, around southwestern coast of tinian opposite tinian town feigned landing draw enemy forces real objective on eastern coast. upon concluding feint, winged arrow transported marines around waters off actual invasion beaches remained in floating reserve. on 26th, went ashore reinforce , support 4th marine division during reduction of tinian.

winged arrow embarked passengers, including 458 japanese prisoners of war, @ saipan transportation pearl harbor. after disembarking passengers @ oahu on 10 august, transport continued eastward san francisco, arrived on 19 august. completed month s availability @ san francisco , moved san diego on 19 september. there, embarked marine corps aviation unit transportation marshalls. departed san diego on 21 september and, after stops @ pearl harbor , majuro, disembarked passengers @ roi islet in kwajalein atoll on 15 october. embarked more passengers there , got underway again on 22 october, bound hollandia on northern coast of new guinea. after stops @ majuro , manus in admiralty islands, transport arrived @ hollandia on 21 november. @ new guinea base, ship began preparations invasion of luzon in philippines.

lingayen gulf

early in january 1945, embarked troops of army s corps, units of 158th regimental combat team, , sailed lingayen gulf on northwestern coast of luzon part of rear admiral richard l. conolly s reinforcement group (task group 77.9). , other ships of task group arrived off lingayen on 11 january, 2 days after initial assault. troops landed near mabilao 15 miles east of town of lingayen , moved support other corps troops engaged japanese. during stay @ lingayen gulf, winged arrow straddled bombs , near-misses kamikaze crashed close aboard bow, performed part in operation without suffering casualties or damage.

leyte

she departed lingayen on night of 12 , 13 january, joined convoy of fast transports, , shaped course leyte gulf. en route, convoy suffered kamikaze attack. 1 of intruders succeeded in crashing zeilin (ap-9), winged arrow again escaped damage. after week @ leyte, transport carried more reinforcements luzon, landing them north of subic bay @ la paz. returned leyte , remained there until 16 february when got underway ulithi-bound convoy included damaged former travelling mate, zeilin. task unit reached ulithi on 18 february, winged arrow did not remain there long. continuing voyage, stopped @ invaded iwo jima embarked units of 5th marine division transportation hawaii. after disembarking marines @ hilo , spending 12 17 april in islands, resumed voyage west coast of united states , entered san francisco bay on 23rd.

okinawa

winged arrow spent month undergoing repairs @ san francisco. departed port on 16 may , headed north seattle arrived on 19th. embarked army replacement troops okinawa campaign , got underway again on 22 may. made brief stops @ pearl harbor, eniwetok, , ulithi before arriving in ryukyus in june. remained @ okinawa until 8 july when headed pearl harbor 1,056 japanese prisoners of war embarked. steaming via saipan , eniwetok, reached oahu on 22 july. after unloading prisoners of war, took on mixed group of passengers, included male , female members of armed forces male , female civilians, transportation united states. transport stood out of pearl harbor on 24 july , arrived in san francisco 6 days later.

the ship underwent round of voyage repairs @ san francisco before returning sea on 11 august. en route western pacific, received word of japanese capitulation on 14 august. made brief calls @ eniwetok , ulithi before arriving @ destination, leyte, on day of actual surrender ceremony, 2 september 1945.

post-war

after side trip tacloban, winged arrow departed philippines on 5 september 1,500 returning americans embarked. made two-day stop @ ulithi , arrived in san francisco once again prior returning far east. arrived @ saipan in marianas in mid-october , picked more returning troops there , @ guam , tinian before getting underway on 27th transport them united states. ship entered san francisco once again on 10 november departed again orient 2 weeks later. time, destination jinsen, korea, arrived on 13 december , disembarked occupation troops before heading united states on 15th. arrived in seattle in january 1946 , remained there until 28th when put sea once again, bound asia. ship arrived @ shanghai, china, on 14 february , remained there until 17th @ time headed south hong kong two-day visit before heading west coast. winged arrow left hong kong on 22 february; stopped along way @ guam, truk, , wake island; , reentered seattle on 29 march.

the transport embarked upon final voyage navy on 14 april. made stop @ san francisco , shaped course philippines on 26 april. winged arrow stood manila bay on 14 may, moved subic bay on 15 may, , headed samar on 16th. stopped briefly @ samar on 18th , pointed bow eastward. concluded final transpacific voyage navy @ san francisco on 5 june.

decommissioning , sale

on 27th, headed north seattle , inactivation, arriving there on 30th. completed inactivation overhaul , placed out of commission @ seattle , transferred maritime commission on 12 august 1946 disposal. name struck navy list on 28 august 1946. in 1948, sold , converted mercantile service. between 1948 , 1965, served several steamship companies under names susan, noordzee, fairhope, , green bay. name disappeared mercantile lists late in 1965. presumably broken up.