USS Cavallaro

History
United States
Name	USS Cavallaro
Namesake	Salvatore John Cavallaro
Ordered	1942
Builder	Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan
Laid down	28 March 1944
Launched	15 June 1944
Commissioned	13 March 1945
Decommissioned	17 May 1946
Recommissioned	4 September 1953
Decommissioned	15 October 1959
Stricken	15 November 1974
Fate	Transferred to South Korea, 15 October 1959
South Korea
Name	ROKS Kyung-Nam (APD-81)
Acquired	15 October 1959
Decommissioned	29 December 2000
Fate	Sunk as a target, 2003
General characteristics
Class and type	high speed transport
Displacement	1,450 long tons (1,473 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	2 × boilers; Turbo-electric drive with 2 × turbines; 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb. 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m), 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) pitch; 12,000 hp (8.9 MW); 2 rudders; 359 tons fuel oil;
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range	3,700 nmi (6,900 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph); 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph);
Boats & landing ; craft carried	4 × LCVPs
Troops	162 troops
Complement	204 (12 officers, 192 enlisted)
Armament	1 × 5"/38 caliber gun; 3 × twin 40 mm guns; 6 × single 20 mm guns; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Cavallaro (DE-712/APD-128) was a

high speed transport of the United States Navy

.

Namesake

Salvatore John Cavallaro was born on 6 September 1920 in

Navy Cross

for his service at Sicily.

Construction and commissioning

Cavallaro was laid down by the

launched

on 15 June 1944, sponsored by Mrs. A. Cavallaro. A few weeks after launching, on 17 July 1944, it was decided that Cavallaro would be completed as a Crosley-class high speed transport, with the designation APD-128. She was commissioned on 13 March 1945.

Service history

1945–1946

Arriving for training at

San Diego, California

, on 17 May 1946.

Cavallaro was recommissioned on 4 September 1953, and after intensive training, sailed for Japan on 12 March 1954. She served as primary control ship in several large amphibious exercises during this tour of duty in the

Saigon, Vietnam, as headquarters for those supervising the debarkation of refugees from Communist North Vietnam carried south by the U.S. Navy in "Operation Passage to Freedom

". She returned to San Diego on 23 November.

From March 1955, Cavallaro was

Republic of Korea

, and was decommissioned and transferred 15 October 1959.