USS Bingham

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USS Bingham (APA-225), 1945-46 photograph.
USS Bingham (APA-225), 1945–1946 photograph.
History
United States
NameBingham
NamesakeBingham County, Idaho
Orderedas a
MCE hull 573[1]
Builder
Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Yard number573[1]
Laid down22 September 1944
Launched20 November 1944
Sponsored byMrs John V. Harrell
Commissioned23 December 1944
Decommissioned17 June 1946
Reclassifiedredesignated Amphibious Transport (LPA-225), 1 January 1969
Stricken3 July 1946
Identification
Honors and
awards		1 ×
battle star
for World War II service
FateSold for scrapping, 17 September 1983
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeHaskell-class attack transport
TypeType VC2-S-AP5
Displacement
  • 6,873 long tons (6,983 t) (light load)
  • 14,837 long tons (15,075 t) (full load)
Length455 ft (139 m)
Beam62 ft (19 m)
Draft24 ft (7.3 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed17.7 kn (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried
  • 2 ×
    LCMs
  • 1 × open LCPL
  • 18 × LCVPs
  • 2 ×
    LCPRs
  • 1 × closed LCPL (
    Captain's Gig
    )
Capacity
  • 2,900 long tons (2,900 t) DWT
  • 150,000 cu ft (4,200 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Troops86 officers, 1,475 enlisted
Complement56 officers, 480 enlisted
Armament
Service record
Part of: TransRon 24
Operations: Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (24–30 June 1945)
Awards:

USS Bingham (APA-225) was a

US Navy in World War II. She was of the VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type and named after Bingham County, Idaho
.

Construction

Pickaway was laid down 22 September 1944, under

Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California; launched on 20 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John V. Harrell; commissioned builder's yard on 23 December 1944.[3]

Service history

Following

San Pedro, from 5 to 13 February 1945.[3]

Transport duties

She loaded supplies at Los Angeles and then proceeded to San Francisco, before heading thence to Port Chicago, to load ammunition for Hawaii. She arrived there late on 22 February; commenced loading the next morning; and, after taking on 2,900 short tons (2,600 t) of assorted ammunition as cargo, got underway for Hawaii on the afternoon of 28 February.[3]

Steaming independently in worsening weather, Bingham encountered "very rough seas" which caused the ship to roll as much as 40 degrees to a side, "recovering very slowly." By late afternoon, the storm had wrenched eight life rafts loose from their

moorings. Throughout the night of 1 March, Bingham constantly deviated from her "routed track in an effort to lessen the effects of the sea." The squally, rainy weather continued the next day, but Bingham had passed the worst of it. She made landfall off Oahu on the morning of 6 March, and PC-483 escorted her into Pearl Harbor where she moored at the Naval Ammunition Depot.[3]

Her perilous voyage over and cargo delivered safely, Bingham enjoyed a brief respite at Pearl Harbor, taking on stores and fuel while sending ashore as many officers and men as possible to attend various training courses and schools.[3]

On the morning of 27 March, her tropical idyll came to an end, and she shifted to

Eniwetok on the afternoon of 6 April.[3]

The following day, in company with

Marianas. She and her consorts reached Saipan on the morning of 10 April. Two days later, having disembarked her troops there, Bingham got underway for Hawaii and reached Pearl Harbor on 21 April.[3]

During the first half of May, Bingham took part in amphibious warfare training off Maui. Returning from these evolutions to Pearl Harbor on 14 April, she took on board the Navy's

Seabees") between 15 and 20 May, and sailed for the Marshall Islands on 20 May.[3]

After steaming in convoy with

Ryukyus with Task Unit (TU) 94.18.2 on 20 June.[3]

At 05:42 on 24 June, Bingham was detached from the task unit and directed to proceed to the eastern coast of

LCM's. To quote her war diary, "Unloading continued day and night except for interruptions for enemy air alerts on the nights of the 25, 27, and 29 June."[3]

Unloading completed by late on 28 June, Bingham put to sea on 30 June, in company with SS San Bruno and

Matson Navigation Company which lasted until early in August. Bingham then loaded supplies and cargo and stood out to sea on 9 August, bound for Hawaii.[3]

On 14 August, while the ship steamed westward, she received "conflicting radio reports that

Western Carolines on 27 August. She steamed in company with nine other attack transports, a destroyer escort, and two subchasers, and the convoy reached Ulithi on the last day of August.[3]

On 8 September, Bingham sailed for her second visit to Okinawa, as the command ship of a 23 ship convoy (

Buckner Bay on 11 September, and moved in closer to the beach on 12 September, nearer to Awase, where her cargo was to be landed. During the morning of 13 September, she began disembarking her passengers and unloading her cargo. About 06:00 on 16 September, however, the wind and seas began to rise "appreciably." Long swells rolled into Buckner Bay from the southeast, as a typhoon, thought to be slowly recurving northward, headed for Okinawa. Bingham put to sea "in accordance with the current typhoon plan." By the time she cleared Buckner Bay, her bow sliced into 20-foot waves, and the sea continued to rise as she doubled Okinawa's southern tip and labored on to westward.[3]

By the next morning she deemed it safe to return to port, so she came about and headed for Buckner Bay, anchoring at 19:00. After completing her cargo unloading on 18 September, Bingham shifted to the western side of the island and anchored off

prisoners of war "recently liberated from camps in Japan" for passage to Manila. Bingham got underway at 07:00 on 21 September; but, when SS Cape Diamond missed a planned rendezvous off Naha, the attack transport returned to Naha for the night. Bingham finally sailed for Manila at 17:00 on 22 September, in company with Haskell, the lead ship of her class, and Lough. She moored in Manila harbor on 25 September; and, by 19:00, the former prisoners of war all had disembarked, well on their way in returning home.[3]

Operation Magic Carpet

Bingham, however, had work yet to do. Shortly before midnight on 25 September, she began embarking some of the first 2,000 men she carried homeward in

dry docking and alterations. Among the latter was the conversion of her number five hold to a 312 man troop compartment. A labor dispute, however, slowed the work and prompted her move from Pier 7 to Pier 922, where Bellerophon tied up alongside on 30 October, and completed the alterations.[3]

Converted for "Magic Carpet" duty, Bingham embarked westbound passengers and sailed for the Philippines on 6 November. Reaching Samar on 19 November, she disembarked her passengers there, taking on board others bound for Manila. She then fueled from Whippet and put to sea again on 21 November. She reached Manila on the morning of 23 November.[3]

Bingham then departed Manila on 29 November, with a "capacity load" of 2,010 passengers, eclectically composed of female

Hunters Point, where she remained for the rest of December 1945, undergoing further alterations and repairs. During this period, all of her ammunition supply and all but two 20-millimenter guns were removed.[3]

Bingham made one final round trip voyage to the Philippines and back as part of the "Magic Carpet" before sailing for the east coast of the United States on 28 March 1946.[3]

Decommissioning

The attack transport reached Norfolk, Virginia, on 3 May, and was decommissioned there on 17 June 1946. Bingham was returned to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) the next day and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 3 July 1946.[3]

She was briefly removed from the fleet 11 May 1955, by A.L. Burbank Company, Ltd., until 20 June 1955, under a Repair Program.[4]

On 1 January 1969, she was redesignated LPA-225. In May 1975, her title was transferred from the Navy to the

Maritime Administration (MARAD).[2]

Fate

On 17 September 1983, she was sold to Aguilar Y. Peris, S.A., Spain, to be scrapped. She was withdrawn for the fleet 14 October 1983.[4]

Awards

Bingham received one

battle star for her World War II service.[3]

Notes

Citations
  1. ^ a b Kaiser No. 2 2010.
  2. ^ a b Navsource 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Cressman 2016.
  4. ^ a b MARAD.

Bibliography

Online resources

  • Cressman, Rober J. (29 June 2016). "Pickaway". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 29 January 2017.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "Kaiser Permanente No. 2, Richmond CA". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  • "USS Bingham (LPA-225)". Navsource.org. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  • "Bingham (APA-225)". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Bingham (APA-225).
  • Photo gallery of USS Bingham (APA-225) at NavSource Naval History


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