- USS Telfair (APA-210)
USS "Telfair" (APA-210) was a sclass|Haskell|attack transport that saw service with the
US Navy inWorld War II and theKorean War . She remained in service through most of the 1950s and 1960's, where she participated in various peacetime operations."Telfair" was named after
Telfair County, Georgia which was itself named forEdward Telfair , the secondGovernor of that state. She was laid down under aMaritime Commission contract (MCV hull 558) on30 May 1944 atRichmond, California , byPermanente Metals Corporation ; launched on30 August 1944 , and commissioned atSan Francisco on31 October 1944 , Comdr. Lyle O. Armel, USNR, in command.Operational history
World War II
Following fitting out at
Oakland, California , and shakedown and amphibious training offSan Pedro, California , the attack transport returned viaSan Diego to San Francisco to load troops and cargo for her first westward voyage.On the second day of 1945, she sailed westward and reached
Pearl Harbor on the 8th. Nine days later, "Telfair" resumed her voyage carrying elements of the 111th Infantry Division to thePalau s forgarrison duty. She disembarked troops atPeleliu between 30 January and 6 February and then continued on to thePhilippines , arriving atLeyte on 9 February to prepare for the invasion of the Ryūkyūs.Invasion of Okinawa
In mid-March, the attack transport embarked elements of the Army's 77th Division and sortied from San Pedro Bay with Task Group (TG) 51.1. The Western Islands Attack Group, as TG 51.1 was called, was responsible for conducting the prelude to the
Okinawa invasion by securing the anchorage atKerama Retto , a small cluster of islands just to the south and west of Okinawa.Accordingly, it was the first element engaged in combat in the vicinity of Okinawa during the actual invasion operation. Between 25 March and 2 April, "Telfair" participated in the assault and occupation of those key islets.
Attacked by kamikazes
On 30 March, she reembarked her troops, and, on the afternoon of 2 April, she cleared the roadstead for a waiting area to the south. That evening, just after 1830, her task group was jumped by 10 or more
kamikazes . "Telfair" and her sister-ship USS|Goodhue|APA-107|2 "...were attacked by three planes in rapid succession." Her gunners and those of "Goodhue" combined to explode one in mid-air. A second, after ricocheting between her starboard and port kingposts, smacked into "Telfair"'s bulwark, then careened over the side. The third, his glide deflected by gunfire, crashed into "Goodhue"' s cargo boom, smashed her after 20-millimeter gun tubs, and joined his compatriot in the sea.Repairs
"Telfair" remained in the vicinity of Okinawa supporting the invasion until 26 April when she got underway for
Ulithi Atoll in theWestern Carolines . She entered the lagoon on the 30th, replenished, and repaired battle damage until 22 May. On that day, the attack transport headed east to return to theUnited States . She reachedSeattle, Washington , on 13 June, disembarked passengers, and underwent further repairs.On 26 June, she steamed out of
Puget Sound and again pointed her bow westward. On 13 July, she delivered Army hospital units safely toSaipan . Four days later, "Telfair" left the Marianas, bound for San Francisco, where she arrived on the last day of July.After hostilities
Putting to sea once more on 12 August, the attack transport shaped a course for Ulithi, but peace had returned to the
Pacific before she reached that atoll on the 28th. Over the next two months, she steamed betweenLuzon and Leyte in the Philippines, visitingManila from 1 to 13 October. On the 16th, she departedLingayen Gulf to land occupation troops inJapan . She madeHiro Wan and Kure, atHonshū , on the 20th and subsequently landed her passengers.Operation Magic Carpet
At the end of October, "Telfair" reported for
Operation Magic Carpet duty. On 2 November, she arrived atSamar , in the Philippines, where she embarked her first load of veterans for the return voyage to the United States. On the 4th, the attack transport departed the Philippines and, after almost three weeks at sea, entered port atPortland, Oregon . "Telfair" remained on the west coast until Christmas Eve when she weighed anchor to return to the western Pacific. She stopped at Saipan at the end of the first week in January 1946; then continued on to Manila where she moored on the 12th.First decommission
For the next two months, she operated in the
Philippine Islands , visitingSubic Bay and Samar. She departed Samar on 5 March and, after calling at Pearl Harbor, reached San Francisco on the 25th. On 8 April, she arrived atStockton, California , to begin inactivation overhaul. On 20 July, she was inactive and berthed with the Stockton Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.Korean War
The
North Korea n attack upon theRepublic of Korea in June 1950 returned "Telfair" to life. She was ordered activated on 7 August and actually rejoined the Pacific Fleet when she was recommissioned on12 September 1950 , Capt. John Andrews, Jr., in command. During the period of fighting inKorea , roughly June 1950 to July 1953, "Telfair" deployed to the western Pacific on three separate occasions.During the first, from October 1950 to July 1951, she visited
Yokosuka ,Kobe , and Sasebo in Japan andInchon andChinnampo in Korea, shuttling troops from the former three ports to the latter two. Her first and second Korean War deployments were separated by six months of operations along the west coast of the United States.Her second tour began with her departure from San Francisco on
26 January 1952 and ended upon her return to the west coast at San Diego on 24 May. In the intervening period, she saw no actual Korean service, but steamed between Okinawa, Kobe, Yokosuka, and Sasebo primarily engaged in trainingUnited Nations troops in amphibious operations.Her third and final deployment during the Korean conflict began on
30 October 1952 after four months on the west coast. It took her to the already-familiar Japanese ports and to Manila, Subic Bay, andHong Kong , as well as the Korean ports ofPusan , Inchon, the island ofKoje Do and to the vicinity ofSokcho Ri . "Telfair" returned to San Diego on20 April 1953 and resumed operations in the eastern Pacific.Between August 1953 and February 1958, "Telfair" made three more deployments to the western Pacific. For the most part, her duties during those visits to the
Far East consisted of lifting United Nations troops from now-peaceful Korea; shuttling troops and supplies between American bases in Korea, Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines, and participating in 7th Fleet amphibious exercises.Operation Passage to Freedom
In August 1954, however, she did depart from her normal routine to participate in Operation "Passage to Freedom", in which Navy ships evacuated
Vietnam ese refugees fromHaiphong in thecommunist -controlled northern half of newly-partitionedIndochina toSaigon in the pro-western southern portion. During non-deployment periods, "Telfair" conducted west coast operations and leave and upkeep periods in California ports.On
29 February 1958 , "Telfair" was decommissioned once more and laid up with the National Defense Reserve Fleet.Third commission
A little over two years later, it appeared that her naval career was at an end once and for all. On
1 July 1960 , "Telfair" was transferred to theMaritime Administration , and her name was struck from the Navy List. However, the Navy reacquired her on24 August 1961 , and her name was reinstated on the Navy List on 1 September. She was placed in commission for the third time on22 November 1961 , Capt. E. M. Higgins in command."Telfair"'s new seven-year lease on life took her to new oceans and new ports of call for, immediately following training off San Diego, she headed for duty with the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. She transited the
Panama Canal on1 February 1962 and arrived in her new home port,Norfolk, Virginia , on the 6th. From then until final decommissioning in 1968, she alternated cruises to theMediterranean as a unit of the 6th Fleet with operations in the westernAtlantic as a unit of the 2d Fleet.On her Mediterranean cruises, she joined other units of the 6th Fleet in bi-national and multinational amphibious exercises. She was also on hand in Greek waters in April 1967 as part of the back-up force protecting American lives and property during the takeover by the military junta in Athens. When assigned to the 2d Fleet, "Telfair" operated from Norfolk and cruised the Atlantic seaboard, in the
Caribbean and in theGulf of Mexico . She was normally engaged in amphibious exercises with marines fromCamp Lejeune , though she also conducted summer training cruises for midshipmen of the Naval Academy atAnnapolis, Maryland .Final decommission
On
31 October 1968 , "Telfair" was decommissioned for the third and final time at the Naval Amphibious Base located atLittle Creek, Virginia . On the following day, her name was struck from the Navy List. On26 June 1969 , she was transferred to the Maritime Administration once more, this time for simultaneous transfer to her purchaser, the Boston Metals Co., ofBaltimore, Maryland , which subsequently scrapped the ship.Decorations
"Telfair" earned one
battle star for World War II and three battle stars during the Korean War.References
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/apa210.txt "Telfair" (APA-210)] , DANFS Online.
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/03210.htm APA/LPA-210 "Telfair"] , Navsource Online.
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