- USS Tuscana (AKN-3)
The USS "Tuscana" (AKN-3) was an "Indus"-class
net cargo ship in the service of theUnited States Navy inWorld War II . Probably named after a variant spelling of the constellationTucana , it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name."Tuscana" was laid down
5 December 1943 asliberty ship SS "William R. Cox" (MCE hull 2406) byBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc. ,Baltimore, Maryland , under a Maritime Commission contract; launched on29 December 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Cheshire Cox; acquired by the Navy under bareboat charter and renamed "Tuscana" on8 January 1944 ; converted to a net cargo ship at Baltimore by the Maryland Drydock Co.; and commissioned on28 March 1944 , Comdr. Thomas J. Butler, USNR, in command."Tuscana" arrived at
Hampton Roads, Virginia on6 April 1944 and operated out of that port, conducting drills and shakedown inChesapeake Bay . On26 April , she set her course via the Canal Zone forHawaii . She entered Pearl Harbor on23 May , provisioned, took on passengers, and got underway for the Marshalls on26 May .She arrived at
Kwajalein on5 June ; got underway on27 June , steaming with barge "YC-1008 " in tow; and arrived atEniwetok on29 June . On20 July , while attempting to transfer a passenger to "Vega" (AK-17) during a rain squall, "Tuscana"’s Buoy Boat No. 1 became stranded on a reef. When pounding seas forced the boat's crew to abandon her, a boat from destroyer "Downes" (DD-375) came to the rescue and saved all hands. On27 July , "Tuscana" departed Eniwetok, with other net cargo ships and an escort, and set her course for theMarianas ."Tuscana" anchored at Garapan on
1 August , detached men and cargo for the operation of harbor and waterfront facilities, and on7 August began net operations. Throughout the remainder of the month, "Tuscana"’s crew labored to assemble and launch anti-torpedo nets which were towed into place and installed by the smaller net laying ships (ANs). On this, her first net laying assignment, "Tuscana" provided nets to protectMutcho Point andGarapan harbor from submarine attack. After completing this vital task, "Tuscana" arrived atPearl Harbor on11 September and began loading stores, buoys, and net materials.On
19 September , she got underway with a slow convoy of eight ships and three escorts bound for the Marshalls. After a few days at Eniwetok, she continued on toward theCarolines and arrived atUlithi on9 October . Here, conferences on net laying took place on board the ship. Then, on15 October , "Tuscana"’s crew began net assembly. On26 October , she began delivering nets to smaller net laying ships which towed them into place and installed them to protect the lagoon anchorage. On28 October , "Tuscana" assembled the last net of this operation. The same day, "Viburnum" (AN-57), a member of the task unit working with "Tuscana", struck aJapan ese mine which caused severe damage to the net layer and underscored the ever-present hazards of warfare in the Pacific."Tuscana" embarked passengers on
11 November and, on the following day, got underway and steamed via Eniwetok to the Hawaiian Islands. Throughout most of December, she remained at Pearl Harbor undergoing repairs. Then, on27 December , she set her course again for the Marshalls and spent a week at Eniwetok before proceeding on to the western Carolines. Shortly after midday on20 January 1945 , she passed throughMugai Channel and anchored at Ulithi. Although hampered at first by rough seas. "Tuscana" supplied moorings and assembled 1,260 yards of anti-torpedo net forTowachi Channel and an additional 6,390 yards for use elsewhere in the approaches to Ulithi. On12 February 1945 , her assignment completed, she departed Ulithi.In March, she underwent drydocking at Pearl Harbor; then took on cargo and passengers. She returned to Ulithi on
4 April 1945 , and, on12 April , departed that port steaming in convoy forOkinawa . She anchored off theHagushi landing beaches on18 April . Near dusk each evening, the general alarm sounded, a regular reminder of the danger of Japanese air raiders. On2 May , sailors on board "Tuscana" saw the flash of firing off the ship's starboard quarter and later observed the glow of an explosion which they thought marked the fiery end of a Japanese suicide boat. On6 May , "Tuscana" began to assemble nets and moorings to screen the anchorage.Early in the day on
28 May , as "Tuscana" lay anchored inBuckner Bay , a swarm ofkamikaze s attacked. For "Tuscana", the action began at 07:25, when a Japanese airplane crashed into a merchant ship only 800 yards off her starboard bow. For over 30 minutes, "Tuscana" fought off the airborne raiders. At 07:35, a suicide plane crashed into "Sandoval" (APA-194). Soon thereafter, "Tuscana" opened fire on her first enemy plane; and, moments later, another came in toward her port bow. "Tuscana"’s guns opened on the attacker and kept it under fire until it disappeared in the low overcast. At 07:44, she engaged a third aircraft and splashed it 600 yards off the port bow. She then turned her attention to the rescue of two survivors from "Sandoval". At 07:55, yet another Japanese plane came in range, and "Tuscana" splashed this raider some three miles away. During the fight, "Tuscana" lost her starboard mainmast boom, which was toppled and damaged beyond operational use, and her topping lift was carried away by friendly fire. At 0758, "Tuscana"’s guns opened on the last of the attackers and ceased fire five minutes later, just as a kamikaze crashed merchant ship SS "Josiah Snelling". At 09:00, the all clear was sounded, and "Tuscana" emerged from her encounter with the enemy without personnel loss and with the knowledge of having assisted in the splashing of two enemy planes.During an early afternoon alert on
3 June 1945 , "Tuscana"’s gunners splashed a Japanese aircraft only 500 yards off her starboard quarter. On6 June , she got underway and proceeded viaSaipan and the Hawaiian Islands to the California coast. On6 July , she anchored inSan Francisco Bay to begin a prolonged period of overhaul. While the ship underwent extensive repairs, members of her crew attended schools in damage control, fire fighting, and radar. During this interlude, hostilities ended in the Pacific.Late in August, "Tuscana" completed dock trials and tests; then provisioned and got underway on
7 September . Steaming via Pearl Harbor, she arrived at Okinawa on14 October and began discharging her cargo. Later in the month, as she was proceeding to Japan, she sighted and destroyed a floating mine. The ship anchored at Sasebo on25 October . She returned to Okinawa in November; then continued on to Hawaii; and reached Pearl Harbor on10 December . She discharged passengers and cargo there; and, on14 December , she set her course for Balboa. Steaming via the Panama Canal, she arrived at Norfolk on11 January 1946 .The net cargo ship was decommissioned on
28 January 1946 and returned to the War Shipping Administration the next day. Her name was struck from the Navy list on25 February 1946 . Laid up under the name "William R. Cox", the ship remained in custody of the Maritime Administration until she was sold in the late 1960s to Horton Industries, Inc., and scrapped in 1967."Tuscana" received two
battle star s for World War II service.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t9/tuscana.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.