- USS White Marsh (LSD-8)
USS "White Marsh" (LSD-8) was an sclass|Ashland|dock landing ship of the
United States Navy , named in honor of White Marsh, the birthplace of Dr.Walter Reed (1851–1902), inGloucester County, Virginia ."White Marsh" was laid down on
7 April 1943 atOakland, California , by theMoore Dry Dock Company ; launched on19 July 1943 , sponsored by Mrs. William C. Wise, the wife of Col. Wise,USMC ; and commissioned on29 January 1944 , Commander George H. Eppelman,USNR , in command.World War II
After commissioning, the dock landing ship made two voyages from San Francisco to Morro Bay, where she delivered two cargoes of LCMs to the boat basin located there before heading to San Diego for shakedown. She completed that training and returned to San Francisco on
15 March . On the 23d, the ship got underway forHawaii with a load oflanding craft and passengers. She arrived atOahu on30 March and reported for duty with the5th Amphibious Force , Pacific Fleet. She made a round-trip voyage to San Francisco and back toPearl Harbor between31 March and15 April . From then until late in May, she conducted amphibious exercises in preparation for theMarianas campaign .Central Pacific
On the 29th, "White Marsh" departed Pearl Harbor in company with Task Group 52.15 (TG 52.15), bound for
Saipan . After a stop atEniwetok en route, she and her task unit arrived in the Marianas before dawn of15 June . Later that morning, "White Marsh" and her companion ships disembarked troops of the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions and the landing went forward. Following the initial assault on Saipan, the dock landing ship settled into a routine of repair duties for damaged landing craft for a week before departing the Marianas to return to the United States.After a stop at Pearl Harbor en route, the ship entered San Francisco on
11 July . Following voyage repairs, she loaded cargo and passengers; got underway for Hawaii; arrived back in Oahu on28 July ; and remained there until12 August , preparing for the invasion of the Palau Islands. She loadedtank s and embarked troops of the Army's 710th Tank Battalion and departed Pearl Harbor on12 August in company with TG 23.4. Staged throughGuadalcanal where she participated in amphibious rehearsals, "White Marsh" arrived offAngaur on16 September and, after disembarking the 710th Tank Battalion, again started repair work on damaged landing craft. On 21 September, she left thePalau s on her way to the WesternCaroline Islands . Following the occupation ofUlithi Atoll , from 23 to 25 September, she departed that atoll and proceeded toNew Guinea .She arrived at
Hollandia on28 September and reported for duty with the7th Amphibious Force . The next day, she returned to sea, bound forFinschhafen , located farther down the northern coast of New Guinea opposite the island ofNew Britain . The ship embarked troops, loaded cargo at Finschhafen, resumed her voyage, and arrived atManus Island on2 October . There, she prepared for her third amphibious landing of the war, the invasion of the Philippines.Philippines
On the 12th, she departed Manus as a unit of TG 78.2 and set a course for San Pedro Bay, Leyte. "White Marsh" disembarked her troops and unloaded her cargo there on
20 October , the day of the initial landings on Leyte, and departed the island that same afternoon, bound for New Guinea. The dock landing ship reached Hollandia on24 October , loaded troops, and then steamed toBiak Island on the 29th. At Biak, she took on additional soldiers and some cargo before heading back to thePhilippines on the 31st. She arrived atDulag , Leyte, on5 November , disembarked her passengers, unloaded cargo, and departed the island on the 6th.During November and December, "White Marsh" continued to make reinforcement and resupply voyages between New Guinea and Leyte to support the campaign to liberate the southern Philippines. That routine ended late in December when she arrived at
Aitape , New Guinea, to prepare for the invasion of Luzon.She departed Aitape on
28 December , bound for northernLuzon in company with a unit of TG 78.1. She arrived offLingayen on the night of 8 and 9 January and, the following morning, unloaded troops and cargo for the assault. She then served briefly again as a landing craft repair ship but departedLingayen Gulf on the 10th. En route to Leyte, "White Marsh"'s unit suffered akamikaze attack which resulted in severe damage and considerable casualties on board USS|Du Page|APA-41|2.The dock landing ship, however, arrived unscathed at Leyte on
13 January , but soon returned to sea as an element of TG 78.2, bound forWakde Island . She arrived there on17 January and loaded Luzon-bound troops and equipment. She departed Wakde on the 19th and set a course for Lingayen. En route, her unit again came under aerial attack when a singleNakajima B5N "Kate"torpedo bomber succeeded in torpedoing USS|Shadwell|LSD-15|2. During the attack, "White Marsh"'santiaircraft battery joined those of her colleagues and brought down the enemy aviator. She arrived back in Lingayen Gulf on27 January and began landing troops and cargo. That afternoon, she completed the unloading operations, got underway, and returned to Leyte on30 January .The ship remained at Leyte until
2 February when she headed for Guadalcanal. En route, she received orders diverting her toMilne Bay , New Guinea, where she arrived on10 February . After loading 11 LCMs, she departed Milne Bay on the 13th and arrived at Guadalcanal on the 15th. There, she reported for duty with Transport Squadron 18 (TransRon 18). On27 February , she departed Guadalcanal, bound for theRussell Islands to conduct amphibious training there with elements of the 1st Marine Division. On15 March , she departed the Russell Islands, bound ultimately forOkinawa . En route, she stopped at Ulithi for six days before continuing on to the Ryūkyūs.Okinawa
"White Marsh" and her division mates arrived off Okinawa during the night of
31 March –1 April . Early in the morning, she disembarked her troops for the landings on Okinawa. Once again, after completing the disembarkation process, the dock landing ship anchored and began landing craft repair duty. Throughout her two-month stay at Okinawa, enemy air activity was heavy, but "White Marsh" only engagedJapan ese aircraft on three occasions — on 6, 12, and 15 April — and claimed hits on two of the attackers.On
3 June , the ship departed Okinawa and proceeded to Leyte. She entered San Pedro Bay on8 June and remained there for three days. On the 11th, the ship moved toManicani Island where she loaded sixmotor torpedo boat s and their crews for transportation to Okinawa. She left Manicani on 15 June and arrived inKerama Retto on the 19th. She discharged cargo and personnel during the next two days and began a voyage to the Philippines on the 22d. She arrived at Leyte on27 June and began a period of tender availability."White Marsh" remained at Leyte until
14 July when she got underway for home. She stopped at Eniwetok on21 July , loaded cargo and passengers, resumed her voyage, and arrived at Oahu on29 July . She remained there only overnight and, the next day, got underway for the West Coast. The ship reached San Francisco on29 July and was receiving repairs there when Japan capitulated in mid-August.Post-war service
"White Marsh" sailed for the
Aleutians on26 August and arrived atAdak Island on3 September but departed again the following day, bound for the Japanese island ofHonshū . She put intoOminato Ko on11 September and reported for duty with the logistic support group assigned to the Northern Japan Occupation Force, which she served as a small craft repair ship and a floating boat pool until25 November when she departed Japan to return to the United States.Steaming via Pearl Harbor, she arrived at
San Pedro, California , on15 December . From there, she moved on, via thePanama Canal , to New Orleans for a brief tour of duty with the Atlantic Fleet before being decommissioned at Norfolk in March 1946 and beginning over four and one-half years in reserve there.1950 – 1960
On
8 November 1950 — as a part of the Navy's expansion of its active forces to enable it to meet its increased demands during theKorean conflict — "White Marsh" was placed back in commission, Comdr. C. B. Bright in command. During the period from her reactivation to the beginning of 1954, she alternated two deployments to the 6th Fleet with Atlantic Fleet service along the East Coast. In January 1954, herhome port was changed to San Diego, California; and the ship was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet. Between January 1954 and September 1956, the dock landing ship made two deployments to the western Pacific during which she conducted amphibious exercises and made port visits to various Far Eastern ports such asHong Kong and Yokosuka. When not deployed to the Orient, she conducted routine operations out of San Diego.In September 1956, "White Marsh" was decommissioned once more; but she remained active, serving the
Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS "White Marsh" (T-LSD-8) while manned by a civil service crew. That duty lasted until November 1960 at which time she was transferred, on loan, to theRepublic of China ."White Marsh" earned four
battle star s for herWorld War II service.ROCS "Chung Cheng" (LSD-191)
The ship served in the
Republic of China Navy as ROCS "Chung Cheng" (LSD-191). On1 January 1977 , she was permanently transferred to the ROC Navy."Chung Cheng" was scrapped in 1985 — replaced by ex-USS|Comstock|LSD-19|6 which was "also" given the name and designation "Cheng Chung" (LSD-191).References
External links
*cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w7/white_marsh.htm
title= "White Marsh"
first= | last=
date= | work= DANFS | publisher= U.S.Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-03-26
*cite web
url= http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/12/1208.htm
title= APM-8 / LSD-8 "White Marsh"
first= Gary P. | last= Priolo
date=27 April 2007 | work= Amphibious Photo Archive | publisher= NavSource Online
accessdate= 2008-03-26
*cite web
url= http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/lsd8.htm
title= "White Marsh"
work= DANFS | publisher= Hazegray.org
accessdate= 2008-03-26
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