USS ''Warren'' (APA-53) was a ''Sumter''-class

attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

that served with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She was named for

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

hero

Joseph Warren Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot movement in Boston, Massachusetts, Bos ...

. ''Jean Lafitte'' - named for the legendary pirate of

Barataria, Louisiana Barataria is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,057 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans– Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. Etymology The name comes fro ...

, who assisted General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...

in defending

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

in 1815 - was a C2-S-E1-type

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which ar ...

laid down under a

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) 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, 19 ...

contract (MC hull 475) on 19 April 1942 at

Chickasaw, Alabama Chickasaw is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 6,457, up from 6,106 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Mobile metropolitan area. History Company town In the early 20th century be ...

, by the

Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation is a former shipbuilding corporation in Chickasaw, Alabama a few miles upstream of the Port of Mobile. Following the company's closure, the land became a part of the Chickasaw Shipyard Village Historic District Hist ...

. She was launched on 7 September 1942; renamed ''Warren'' and classified a transport, AP-98; redesignated as an attack transport, APA-53, on 1 February 1943; and placed in commission, in ordinary, on 19 February 1943. Taken to the

Key Highway Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs from Solomons Island in Calvert County north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/ US 40 Truck ( North Avenue) in Baltimore. The route ...

plant of the

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

soon thereafter, the ship was decommissioned on 10 March 1943; and was recommissioned on 2 August 1943.

World War II

''Warren'' soon sailed south to the

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility th ...

, where the work converting her to an attack transport was completed and she was fitted out for service. She next conducted her shakedown and type training in the waters of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. In intensive exercises, the ship practiced the amphibious tactics and techniques that she would soon be putting into practice. On 1 November 1943, ''Warren'' departed

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

and headed for

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, reaching the Canal Zone on the 5th after a brief stop at Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, en route. Following her transit of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...

, ''Warren'' pushed on for

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and reached that

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

port on 17 November. The ship subsequently underwent repairs and a

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

ing at

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...

before she returned to San Diego for more amphibious training. From 26 November 1943 to 13 January 1944, ''Warren'' landed troops of the

4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re- ...

in practice assaults at

Aliso Canyon Aliso Canyon is a canyon located in Orange County, California in the United States. The canyon is a water gap across the San Joaquin Hills carved out by Aliso Creek, possibly as recently as the last ice age. Located in a semi-arid climate, ...

and

San Clemente Island San Clemente Island (Tongva: ''Kinkipar''; Spanish: ''Isla de San Clemente'') is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is administered b ...

Invasion of Kwajalein

On the latter day, Friday 13 January 1944, ''Warren'' sailed for the Central Pacific with men of the 1st Battalion,

25th Marine Regiment The 25th Marine Regiment (25th Marines) is one of two infantry regiments in the 4th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps. From its headquarters in Fort Devens, Massachusetts, the regiment commands fifteen training centers in nine sta ...

, embarked. Steaming via the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

, the attack transport arrived off the northern islets of

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civili ...

in the

Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...

at dawn on 31 January. The marines embarked in ''Warren'' were assigned the task of taking two small islands in the

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can ...

, nicknamed "Ivan" and "Jacob." Those isles lay to the south of Roi and Namur, two heavily fortified areas of the atoll. Her marines were to secure both a guarded passage into the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons' ...

and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

bases from which to soften up the defenses on the main islands, Roi and

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...

, in support of the landings slated to take place the following day. The initial men ashore encountered minor opposition, and the casualties sustained were very light. ''Warren'' eased into the lagoon on 1 February and continued the process of discharging

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

and cargo for her troops ashore. After a channel had been blasted through the

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

, the attack transport's beach party supervised the arrival of supplies on "Ivan." ''Warren'' herself remained in the lagoon with other ships from her division for the next five days. ''Warren'' departed Kwajalein on 4 February, leaving the island still smoking "and reeking with the stench of unburied dead." As the ship's commanding officer later wrote, "we knew now the horror of war." Sailing southward, the attack transport reached

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of la ...

in the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

on 9 February, before she continued onward, arriving at Noumea, New Caledonia, on 19 February. She ultimately weighed anchor from New Caledonian waters on 7 March and got underway for

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

- the scene of once-bitter fighting. She arrived off

Lunga Point Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field. is also the name of a United States Navy escort carrier ...

on the morning of the 10th and spent the majority of her days over the next three months in the Guadalcanal-

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 1 ...

area. The only exceptions were trips to Kwajalein to pick up Marines from the 22nd Marine Regiment and to Cape Gloucester—where she landed the troops from elements of the Army's 40th Infantry Division and returned to the Russells with men of the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is the ...

embarked.

Invasion of Guam

At the end of May, ''Warren'' completed the loading of the men of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment,

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together wit ...

, and headed north in convoy—her objective

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

, where she was to debark the Marines after their comrades had landed at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

in the Marianas. However, because of the fierceness of the Japanese resistance on Saipan, ''Warren'' mission was aborted; and she spent over a week cruising off that island, standing by with her Marines forming a reserve force. Ultimately, however, ''Warrens

leatherneck Leatherneck is a military slang term in the USA for a member of the United States Marine Corps. It is generally believed to originate in the wearing of a "leather stock" that went around the neck. Its original purpose was to protect the neck fro ...

s were not needed, and the ship returned to

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with ...

, to commence a three-week stay in the Marshall Islands. ''Warren'' then sailed for Guam, sending boatloads of men from the 3rd Marine Division ashore on 20 July. Over the ensuing five days, ''Warren'' remained off the bitterly contested beaches, her beach party lying pinned down in their

foxholes Foxhole may refer to: * Foxhole, a type of defensive fighting position constructed in a military context * Foxholes, Hertford, an eastern suburb of Hertford * Foxholes, North Yorkshire, a village and civil parish in Northern England * Foxhole, Corn ...

ashore. "So perilous was the position on the ''Warren'' beach - the left flank of the assault", wrote ''Warren'' commanding officer, "that supplies could not be landed there." Time and time again, ''Warrens hospital corpsmen exposed themselves to enemy fire evacuating wounded Marines, and the ship's boat crews went to the reef's edge to pick up men under enemy mortar fire.

Invasion of Peleliu

After departing Guam on 25 July, ''Warren'' evacuated marine casualties to

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

. She then shifted to the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands (Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province (Solomon Islands), Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are l ...

in the Solomons, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade - combat veterans of the Guadalcanal campaign. The attack transport then took those combat-hardened marines to the island of

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. ...

in the

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Ca ...

s. Despite the

carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

-based air strikes and intense bombardment which preceded the initial landings of 15 September, the marines who went ashore that day still met fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders. The enemy, firmly entrenched in caves and tunnels that honeycombed the hills overlooking the beach and the strategic airfield, proved difficult to dislodge. Again, ''Warrens beach party worked to keep the supplies flowing from the ship to shore where they were needed, providing the necessary supplies and ammunition for the hard-pressed marines. Meanwhile, as the casualties began coming back to the ship, the attack transport's medical department worked diligently to save the wounded. Among the first ships to discharge her cargo, ''Warren'' remained offshore in the ensuing days, becoming a floating hospital, as doctors and corpsmen worked to sustain lives of men evacuated from "the flaming hell of Peleliu." The routine remained almost the same during the days and nights that ''Warren'' lay off the beachhead. Each night there would be more burials at sea while the crew waited at battle stations for what became almost a regular visit by snooping

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

planes. It was not until 22 September that ''Warren'' departed Pelelieu, bound for

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Invasion of Leyte

She arrived at

Hollandia Hollandia may refer to: * HVV Hollandia, Dutch football team * Hollandia Victoria Combinatie, defunct Dutch football team * ''Hollandia'' (1742 ship), a ship of the Dutch East India Company, wrecked in 1743 on her maiden voyage * Jayapura, a city ...

on 25 September and stayed there until 15 October, when she embarked the men and equipment of the Army's 52nd Field Artillery, 24th Division Artillery, 24th Infantry Division. As part of TG 78.6, she subsequently sailed for the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, as General Douglas MacArthur made good his pledge to return - this time well-backed by ships, men, and planes - to the islands from which he had been forced to leave in 1942. On 22 October - two days after the initial landings on

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 be ...

commenced - ''Warren'' discharged her cargo and disembarked her troops before pulling out of the area that evening. ''Warren'' returned to Leyte on 14 November, this time with six

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

nurses in addition to the Army 1st Battalion, 127th Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. The attack transport's commanding officer later recounted, "We all recalled that old superstition of the sea--'women on board ship bring bad luck'--when a Jap

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

plane came close to hitting us with its deadly charge the afternoon before we sailed into

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf 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 south of the bay is Mindana ...

." The enemy aircraft, a torpedo-carrying "Jill", bore in at the attack transport through flak. Only at the last instant a shell from the after gun blew the right wing off the "Jill", sending the plane sliding past ''Warrens fantail and into the sea. Later that day, the attack transport witnessed other air attacks in her vicinity and watched while an Army Air Force

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

darted daringly through the flak to blow up a Japanese fighter in mid-air with a burst from her machine guns. Leyte was still a hot target, so ''Warrens unloading was efficient and rapid, discharging her cargo within a few hours and getting underway that evening and then slipping away in the darkness, bound for New Guinea. After stopping at

Manus Manus may refer to: * Manus (anatomy), the zoological term for the distal portion of the forelimb of an animal (including the human hand) * ''Manus'' marriage, a type of marriage during Roman times Relating to locations around New Guinea * Man ...

, in the

Admiralties The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 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-co ...

, and

Oro Bay Oro Bay is a bay in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, located southeast of Buna. The bay is located within the larger Dyke Ackland Bay. A port is operated by PNG Ports Corporation Limited with limited wharf facilities, located at . History Duri ...

, ''Warren'' reached

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 to ...

, New Guinea, on 27 November. The attack transport remained at Milne Bay through Christmas Day.

Invasion of Luzon

Underway on 26 December 1944, ''Warren'' picked up her convoy at Manus and then set out for Leyte again on 2 January 1945. Nine days later, she reached

Lingayen Gulf The 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. The Agno River and the Bali ...

off

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, ...

where the ship lost the first members of her crew to enemy action. The first boat to leave the ship during the landings carried half of ''Warrens beach party, along with several members of the Army shore party embarked. Due to the heavy smoke screen and a faulty boat compass, the landing craft landed on a Japanese held beach near the town of Damortis. It was a fatal mistake. Before it could get underway, the boat came under artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire, wrecking the vessel, killing several men, and wounding others. The remaining men abandoned the craft and began to swim away from the beach, but the Japanese automatic weapons opened up on them as they struggled to get out of range. Only 17 men out of 28 survived the deadly hail of fire. It was two hours before the survivors - many of them badly wounded - were picked up. By their firing on ''Warrens boat, the Japanese gave away positions that pre-attack bombardments and bombings had not reached. Accordingly, the destroyer and two fast transports moved in close and joined Army heavy artillery in bombarding the area until all opposition was completely silenced.

"Friendly fire" casualties

On the 13th, a Japanese plane came out of the clouds off the ship's port bow, apparently intent on crashing into ''Warren''.

Antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

guns opened fire. While still several hundred yards away from the attack transport, the plane leveled off, swooped directly over ''Warren'' and headed for attack transport . As ''Warrens men watched, horror-stricken, the

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 ...

plunged headlong into ''Zeilin''. ''Warren'' herself was raked by machine-gun fire from a "friendly" ship. Shells coming from the port quarter pounded the attack transport's port side. One man of her boat group, manning a gun in the cockpit in one of the ship's

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force ( infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are large ...

, was killed outright. On the

flying bridge The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge The bridge, also known as the pilothouse or wheelhouse, is a room or platfo ...

alone, there were 22 casualties. ''Warren'' completed her unloading on 15 January and departed. Ultimately, the attack transport completed one last voyage carrying troops, landing the men of the 1st Battalion, 163rd Regiment, 41st Infantry Division, at

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

in the Philippines, after lifting them from

Biak Island Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

, New Guinea. Later discharging all surplus supplies and all but two of her landing craft, ''Warren'' steamed eastward via Eniwetok and stopped at Pearl Harbor on 18 March, before heading on toward the west coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on 20 March.

Transport mission to Okinawa

Reaching

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, on the 27th, ''Warren'' underwent an overhaul there, lasting into June 1945. Subsequently, shifting to San Diego and then to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, the attack transport departed the west coast on 24 June, bound for the Marshalls, and arrived at Eniwetok on 6 July. From there, she sailed via

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

and arrived off that island on 23 July. Over the next few days, ''Warren'' unloaded the men and material of the 66th Construction Battalion ("Seabees"), undergoing nearly constant air raid alerts as the enemy maintained its pressure on the invading Americans. From 1 to 3 August, ''Warren'' steamed in circles off Okinawa, riding on the outer edge of a typhoon, and sailed for Ulithi on the 6th. Arriving at her destination soon thereafter, ''Warren'' lay at anchor in Ulithi lagoon when the word of Japan's capitulation was received.

After hostilities

''Warren'' put into Cebu harbor to load units of the Army's Americal Division; but, before she embarked those troops, her orders were changed. Instead, she was to proceed to Manila. There, she embarked the troops of the Army's 43rd Division and headed for

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

, reaching that body of water on 13 September, less than two weeks after the formal surrender ceremony on board the battleship . The attack transport subsequently sailed for Okinawa, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and their equipment. She sailed from Okinawan waters on 29 September and reached the mouth of the

Taku River The Taku River ( Lingít: ''T'aaḵu Héeni'') is a river running from British Columbia, Canada, to the northwestern coast of North America, at Juneau, Alaska. The river basin spreads across . The Taku is a very productive salmon river and its ...

- the approaches to the city of

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popula ...

, China - on 2 October. She thus completed the second of her occupation tasks, disembarking the marines over the ensuing days. ''Warren'' departed Taku Bar on 11 October and reached Manila a few days later. She then left Philippine waters for a three-day voyage across the South China Sea to the Gulf of Tonkin. Reaching Haiphong on 26 October, ''Warren'' embarked 1,800 troops of the Chinese 52nd Army before she departed that port, bound for Manchuria. However, because of unsettled conditions between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces in Manchuria - a part of the brewing Chinese civil war, civil war that would reach its climax in the expulsion of the Nationalists from mainland China to Formosa in 1949 - ''Warren'' sailed instead to Chinwangtao, China, the seaport at the base of the Great Wall of China, Great Wall. There, she debarked her passengers on 7 November. Two days later, ''Warren'' dropped down the coast for her second visit to Taku and Tientsin.

Operation Magic Carpet

On 16 November, ''Warren'' sailed for Manila and participation in the mass movement of men back to the continental United States, Operation Magic Carpet. After lifting a contingent of seabees to Guam at the end of November, ''Warren'' streamed a "homeward bound" pennant on 1 December and set her course for the California coast.

Decommission

Reaching San Francisco on 17 December, ''Warren'' remained at that West Coast of the United States, west coast port until 14 January 1946, when she got underway for New Orleans. Transiting the Panama Canal soon thereafter, ''Warren'' pushed on to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Decommissioned on 14 March 1946, ''Warren'' was struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946 and turned over to the War Shipping Administration on 1 August of the same year at Mobile, Alabama.

Decorations

''Warren'' received five battle stars for World War II service.

Commercial service

Subsequently, acquired by the Waterman Steamship Corporation, the ship apparently kept her original name ''Jean Lafitte'', for only a short time. Renamed ''Arizpa'' in 1947, the former attack transport was converted for merchant service and operated under the Waterman house flag until 1966, when she appeared on contemporary merchant vessels registers as operating with Litton Industries Leasing Corp. of Wilmington, Delaware. ''Arizpa'' operated with Litton until 1976, when she was transferred to the Reynolds Leading Corp., also of Wilmington. At some stage she was converted into a container vessel for Sea-Land Service. She was reportedly scrapped at Brownsville, Texas in September 1977.

References

USS ''Warren'' (APA-53)
DANFS Online.

Navsource Online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren APA-53 Sumter-class attack transports Ships built in Chickasaw, Alabama 1942 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States