USS ''Epping Forest'' (LSD-4/MCS-7) was an acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for duty in the Pacific Theater. Her task was to carry and land amphibious landing craft and other equipment and to recover and repair landing craft when possible. Named for an estate in

Lancaster County, Virginia Lancaster County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 10,919. Its county seat is Lancaster. Located on the Northern Neck near the mouth of the Rappahanno ...

where

Mary Ball Washington Mary Washington (; ) was an American planter best known for being the mother of the first president of the United States, George Washington. The second wife of Augustine Washington, she became a prominent member of the Washington family. She spe ...

, mother of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

(first President of the United States), was born, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Originally authorized as USS ''Epping Forest'' (APM-4), a mechanized artillery transport, the ship was reclassified as dock landing ship USS ''Epping Forest'' (LSD-4) on 1 July 1941; laid down 23 November 1942 at the Moore Drydock Company of

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

; launched 2 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. H. Heintz; and commissioned 11 October 1943.

Onboard aircraft capability

Aircraft (still in commission in late 1940s or early 1950s) were fitted/retro-fitted with a prefabricated steel grated "Portable Deck" suspended between the wing walls and supported by removable

I-beam An I-beam is any of various structural members with an - (serif capital letter 'I') or H-shaped cross section (geometry), cross-section. Technical terms for similar items include H-beam, I-profile, universal column (UC), w-beam (for "wide flang ...

girders. The aft end of the portable deck contained a wooden

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

platform, enabling the ship to land and launch one helicopter at a time. Stowage of helicopters was limited to capacity of the portable deck installed for the mission. Aircraft servicing was limited to re-fueling. With portable deck and aircraft platform installed, the Landing ship, dock, was still capable of transporting, launching and repairing smaller amphibious craft and vehicles up to the size of a

Landing Craft Utility A Landing Craft Utility (LCU) is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or pi ...

(LCU) in their well decks.

World War II

''Epping Forest'' sailed from

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, 13 January 1944, with U.S. Marines on board for training in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. She cleared

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

22 January, combat-loaded for the invasion of the

Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...

, and sent men and artillery-laden landing craft ashore in the initial assaults on Roi and Namur 31 January. After replenishing at

Funafuti Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...

early in February, ''Epping Forest'' sailed to

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...

, where alterations were made, and she loaded men and equipment of the 1st Marines. These she landed in the assault on

Emirau Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . Emira is part of what on many maps are charted as the St Matthias Islands, also known as the Mussau Islands, a small group to the northwest of the main islan ...

20 March. During the next three weeks, ''Epping Forest'' brought reinforcements and supplies in to Emirau from

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

and Manus, and on 10 April, arrived at

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

to prepare for the Hollandia operations.

South Pacific operations

''Epping Forest'' arrived off Aitape on 22 April 1944 for preinvasion bombardment, then sent her landing craft ashore in the assault and returned to Finschhafen to reload. She shuttled supplies to Aitape and Hollandia and repaired landing craft at Buna, and on 11 May reached Guadalcanal to load marines and their equipment for the invasion of Guam. After standing by in reserve during the invasions of Tinian and

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, she arrived off Guam 21 July for the assault landings. For five days she lay off the island repairing landing craft, and then returned to Guadalcanal, from which she made several voyages to Manus transporting landing craft through August.

Leyte Gulf operations

''Epping Forest'' brought her specialized facilities into play once more in the invasion of the Palau Islands, lying off

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. ...

to repair landing craft after the assault of 15 September 1944. After staging at Hollandia, she joined in the initial assault in

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf, also known simply as the Leyte, is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the ...

on 20 October, landing engineering troops and their equipment, and sailing immediately to Hollandia to reload. She continued to voyage between

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

with men and gear into December, then prepared for the Lingayen Gulf assault. On 9 January 1945, ''Epping Forest'' sent her boats away in the assault of

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

, working under almost constant air attack. The next day she got underway for Morotai to reload

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

equipment, with which she returned to Lingayen 27 January. For two weeks she repaired landing craft here, then put into Leyte on her way to transfer landing craft from

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, and again from

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...

to Leyte, arriving 13 March to prepare for the Okinawa assault.

Okinawa operations

''Epping Forest'' arrived off the Hagushi beaches 1 April 1945 for the invasion of Okinawa, and during the days of bitter fighting, repaired landing craft at various anchorages around the island. She worked with the skill of long practice under air attacks and the constant threat of enemy suicide attacks by small boats and swimmers as well as aircraft.

End-of-war decommissioning

On 1 July she sailed for

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, arriving 25 days later. After carrying landing craft along the west coast and to the Hawaiian Islands, she brought a load of small craft to

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...

in June 1946 for use in

Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity on July 16, 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices sinc ...

, the

atomic weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

s tests, and returned to San Diego, California, 27 June. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, 25 March 1947.

Recommissioned during Korean War

''Epping Forest'' was recommissioned 1 December 1950, and sailed along the U.S. West Coast for training until 24 May 1951, when she departed San Diego for the troubled

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. Operating in support of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

forces until 7 February 1952, she returned to the west coast for local training and exercises. From October 1952 to September 1953 she again deployed to the waters off

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

where she supported

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

operations in

Wonsan Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

harbor, the first such use of an

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

"Operation Passage to Freedom"

''Epping Forest'' underwent overhaul in November 1953 and resumed her station in the Far East during the following April. She participated in amphibious operations at Okinawa and Korea, transported the refugees of

French Indo-China French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

in the "

Operation Passage to Freedom Operation Passage to Freedom was a term used by the United States Navy to describe the propaganda effort and the assistance in transporting 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist No ...

" mission during the summer of 1954 and engaged in exercises off the Japanese coast. Her tour of Far Eastern waters in 1955–56 was devoted to local operations. In August 1957, she again departed San Diego to engage in the U.S. 7th Fleet " Operation Phiblink" in which she won special recognition for her performance. Following fleet exercises in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

, she returned to San Diego in April 1958 for a period of yard availability.

Continued Far East operations

Coastal operations preceded her return to the western Pacific in June 1959 to provide transportation and support to a division of minesweeping craft. During the Laotian crisis she joined Amphibious Squadron One at Okinawa in a state of combat readiness for any eventuality. ''Epping Forest'' returned to the States in November 1959 for another period of overhaul and upkeep. Assigned to the control of Mine Forces, Pacific, she was ordered to a new homeport,

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

, Japan, whence she sailed on 22 August 1960 prior to offloading quantities of supplies for " Operation Hand Clasp" in Korea. During the remainder of the year she cruised as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of Commander, Mine Flotilla One, and took part in mine countermeasure exercises. She was designated a mine countermeasures support ship and renamed USS ''Epping Forest'' (MCS-7) 30 November 1962.

Decommissioning

''Epping Forest'' was decommissioned and struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

1 November 1968. She was sold for scrapping 30 October 1969.

Military awards and honors

''Epping Forrest'' earned eight

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s for World War II service, five battle stars for

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

service, and six campaign stars for

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

service. Her crew was eligible for the following medals, ribbons, and commendations: *

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (8) *

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

(2) *

Korean Service Medal The Korean Service Medal (KSM) was a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was established November 8, 1950, by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary US military award for ...

(4) *

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, a ...

(6-Vietnam) *

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. ...

(5) * Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation * Philippines Liberation Medal (3) * United Nations Service Medal *

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, also known as the Vietnam Campaign Medal (), is a South Vietnamese military campaign medal which was created in 1949 and awarded during the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War ...

* Republic of Korea War Service Medal

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Epping Forest Ashland-class dock landing ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Korean War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Oakland, California 1943 ships Mine countermeasures support ships of the United States Navy