USS ''War Hawk'' (AP-168) was a
''La Salle''-class transport
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
and
troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...
of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, built at the
Moore Dry Dock Company
Moore Dry Dock Company was a ship repair and shipbuilding company in Oakland, California.
In 1905, Robert S. Moore, his brother Joseph A. Moore, and John Thomas Scott purchased the National Iron Works located in the Bayview-Hunters Point, S ...
in
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 ...
in 1942. The ''La Salle''-class transport had a displacement of almost 14,000 tons and were designed to ferry troops and supplies to and from the war zone 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 ...
.
''War Hawk'' carried eight
LCVP (Higgins Boat) type landing craft used to move troops and four
LCMs used to move heavy equipment to and from the shore.
Service history
Her
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one ...
on 24 December 1942. The hull was completed in a little over three months and was
launched on 3 April 1943 under the command of Commander S. H. Thompson. After launch, ''War Hawk'' was fitted out and acquired by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
on 9 March 1944. She was
commissioned on the same day and designated AP-168.
The Marianas missions
On 21 April 1944 she left the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
headed for
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
, on the island of
Oahu
Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...
. At Pearl Harbor ''War Hawk'' joined the
5th Fleet Amphibious Force and after training, left for her part in "
Operation Forager
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Campaign Plan Granite II, was an offensive launched by the United States against Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The campaig ...
", the liberation of the
Marianas Islands
The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...
. At the time of the landing there were about 59,000 Japanese troops stations in the Southern Marianas Islands, in particular on
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 ...
,
Tinian
Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...
and
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 ...
.
The assault on Marianas was conducted with overwhelming force. All total there were 198 vessels involved including 110 transports and
auxiliary ship
An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense.
Auxili ...
s and 88
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
s. These ships carried and supported a force of 110,000 men. However, Saipan had been in Japanese control for more than ten years and was heavily fortified. There were approximately 31,000 Japanese troops (including navy), and well entrenched on the island.
''War Hawk'' arrived at Saipan on 15 June 1944 and landed elements of the
2nd Marine Division
The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...
on the southwestern shore of the island. Sometime during the next eight days ''War Hawk'' helped fight off two Japanese air attacks. During this time she also took on eleven seriously wounded Japanese
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. As was the nature of many Japanese soldiers, the only way they would be taken prisoner was if they could not fight. The extent of their wounds was so great that all eleven died in spite of efforts of ''War Hawk''s medical staff. They were buried at sea. Four days after the landing, the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
engaged the Japanese Navy in the Philippine Sea and inflicted tremendous damage. This battle prevented the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
from resupplying their troops in the Marianas leaving a brutal war of attrition for the Japanese until the commanding officer, General
Yoshitsugu Saitō, committed suicide and the island was declared liberated on 9 July 1944.
As the fighting on Saipan came to a close, some of ''War Hawk''s
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
s began moving troops from Saipan to Tinian. ''War Hawk'' did not directly participate in the invasion of Tinian. However, several
LCVPs en route to Saipan's beachheads, came within range of what were apparently 20 mm explosive shell fire from Tinian which is only a few miles off the coast of Saipan. There were no hits, but much spray as the shells landed near the boats.
On 23 June 1944 ''War Hawk'' headed back to Pearl Harbor where she picked up elements of the United States Army's
77th Infantry and returned to the Marianas. She landed her troops on Guam on 21 July. She loitered in the area for several more days before returning to Pearl Harbor on 29 June. There she spent a month practicing with new troops from the Army's
96th Infantry Division before leaving again for the South Pacific Theater.
En route, she was diverted from the canceled invasion of
Yap
Yap (, sometimes written as , or ) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federate ...
to take part in the invasion of the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.
Leyte
During the latter part of 1944 and early 1945, ''War Hawk'' participated in the operations to liberate the Philippines. She left Pearl Harbor carrying elements of the Army's 96th Infantry Division and headed for Yap Island, in the
Carolines. En route, she changed heading for
Eniwetok
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...
as the invasion of Yap was canceled. After leaving Eniwetok, she sailed for
Manus. She headed to the Philippines on 14 October 1944 to take part in the
invasion of Leyte.
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 ...
was heavily defended by 20,000 Japanese troops. The
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
had decided that it was best to fortify the Philippines to prevent the Allies from moving north through them to the Japanese homeland. In total there were about 432,000 troops on the various Philippine Islands. There were also between 100 and 120 operational Japanese air bases that would be used to provide air attacks during any amphibious invasion.
The approach to the landing was from the southwest through
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 ...
. The beaches were between the cities of
Tacloban
Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...
and
Dulag on the northeast side of the island. In total, the Leyte invasion was the largest invasion mounted in the Pacific to date. There were a combined total of 701 ships of which 157 were warships. The transports put six Army divisions and one
battalion of Rangers onto Leyte in just a few days.
It was during this phase of the war that General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
waded ashore at Red Beach and issued his famous "I have returned" speech to the people of the Philippines.
Carl Mydans
Carl Mydans (May 20, 1907 – August 16, 2004) was an American photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration and ''Life'' magazine.
Life
Mydans grew up playing on the Mystic River near Medford, near Boston, Massachusetts. His ...
, a photographer for ''
Time–Life
Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and direct marketeer seller ...
'', took the famous photograph of MacArthur wading ashore on Red Beach on 9 January 1945. ''War Hawk'' landed her troops not far away at Green Beach.
In the evening of 21 October 1944, ''War Hawk'' was maneuvering through Leyte Gulf and rammed the battleship near the stern. ''Tennessee'' was laying dead in the water and generating smoke to protect the ships from air attack. No one was hurt on either ship. The damage to ''Tennessee'' was light but ''War Hawk'' sustained moderate damage near the
bow.
One of the more interesting pieces of cargo that ''War Hawk'' landed at Leyte was a
Piper Cub
The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...
artillery spotting aircraft. It left Pearl Harbor loaded onto the deck of ''War Hawk'' (with its wings removed) and was put ashore by an LCM. Before the aircraft could be assembled, a Japanese
mortar round knocked a palm tree over onto it.
After the initial invasion of Leyte, ''War Hawk'' sailed back to
Dutch New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. It contained ...
, where she picked up a
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...
unit and returned to Leyte. ''War Hawk'' returned to
New Britain
New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...
and picked up troops from the Army's
40th Infantry Division and returned to
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
.
Luzon
The next step in the liberation of the Philippines was
the invasion of the island of Luzon, on which the Philippine capitol
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
resides. The land invasion of Luzon began at the base 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 ...
on the Northwestern side of the island on 9 January 1945. In just a few days, ''War Hawk'' and her sister ships had landed almost 175,000 troops, mostly made up of the
6th Army. These troops began a push east, north and south towards Manila.
Initially, beach resistance was light and with a low surf, ''War Hawk'' was able to put her troops and supplies almost directly onto the beach. There was some fire from Japanese gun emplacements. These emplacements were often made of layers of coconut logs which, being very spongy, were very resistant to everything but the large caliber weapons.
Lingayen Gulf
At 04:10 on the morning of 10 January 1945, ''War Hawk'' was anchored in Lingayen Gulf where she was attacked in the dark by a ''
Shinyo'' suicide boat. These boats were small motorboats laden with up to two tons of explosives in the bow. Lookouts reported hearing an approaching boat when the Shinyo rammed the port side of the ship. The explosion blew a hole in hold number three, killing 61 men. (Commander Thompson's official Action Report filed on 18 January 1945 states that 23 people were missing and unaccounted for 20 minutes after the explosion. He does not give details on the wounded.) The damage to the ship was extensive, including flooding in the engine room which knocked out power. With the ship dead in the water, the crew struggled to keep her afloat, restore power and fight off continuing Japanese air attacks throughout the day. That same day, two
Landing Craft Infantry
The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used by the Allies to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during World War II. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious as ...
(''LCI-365'' and ''LCI-974'') were sunk in the same area by ''Shinyo'' boats.
By 11 January, the hole had been buttressed and partial power had been restored, and ''War Hawk'' began a long, slow journey back to Leyte Gulf. Two days later, on 13 January, the gun crews downed a
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
aircraft, splattering the bow with flaming debris. Once in Leyte Gulf, further and more permanent repairs were made to the ship, enabling her to sail to Manus in the
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island.
These rainforest-cov ...
for further dry dock work. She set sail for
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
on 22 February 1945.
The end of World War II
''War Hawk'' was repaired at an unknown dock facility in San Francisco Bay and set sail for San Diego on 29 May 1945. There she picked up troops from an unspecified division and returned to
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 ...
in the Marianas. She made one more trip back to San Francisco for a load of naval replacements and headed for Eniwetok,
Ulithi
Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State.
Name
The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...
and Leyte Gulf. While en route, she received word that the United States had dropped
two atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese had agreed to an
unconditional surrender
An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees, reassurances, or promises (i.e., conditions) are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation.
Anno ...
.
Civilian service
''War Hawk'' was
decommissioned on 12 August 1946 in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington. She became the property of the
Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...
on 13 August after sailing to
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...
, and was eventually struck from the
Navy List
A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...
on 8 October 1946.
The
Waterman Steamship Corporation
Waterman is an American deep sea ocean carrier, specializing in liner services and time charter contracts. It is owned by SEACOR Holdings.
History
Waterman was founded in 1919 in Mobile, Alabama by John Barnett Waterman, Henry Crawford Slaton, ...
of
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
, purchased her on 4 February 1948 and operated her until 1964 as a freighter. After her service with Waterman, ''War Hawk'' was sold to the Ocean Transport Company of New York and renamed ''Ocean Dinny''. She operated with under Ocean Clippers, Inc., until 1966 when she was sold again to her last owner of record, the Overseas Carrier Corporation. She was
scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...
at
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
in January 1971.
Notes
References
*
External links
Record of shipbuilding at Moore Dry Dock Co.*
{{DEFAULTSORT:War Hawk (AP-168)
La Salle-class transports
Ships built in Oakland, California
1943 ships
World War II auxiliary ships of the United States