USS Harry L. Corl

	USS Harry L. Corl at Attu, sometime between September and November 1945
History
United States
Name	USS Harry L. Corl
Namesake	Navy Cross recipient
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	19 January 1944
Launched	1 March 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Marie Mohr
Commissioned	5 June 1945
Decommissioned	21 June 1946
Reclassified	From destroyer escort (DE-598) to high-speed transport (APD-108) 17 July 1944
Stricken	15 January 1966
Fate	Transferred to ROKS Ah San (PG-82), later APD-82, later APD-823, later DE-823; deleted 1984 and scrapped
Notes	Laid down as Rudderow-class destroyer escort USS Harry L. Corl (DE-598)
General characteristics
Class and type	high speed transport
Displacement	2,130 long tons (2,164 t) full
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	12 ft 7 in (3.84 m)
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Troops	162
Complement	204
Armament	1 × 5 in (130 mm) gun; 6 × 40 mm guns; 6 × 20 mm guns; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Harry L. Corl (APD-108) was a

high speed transport that served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. Harry L. Corl was transferred to South Korea

in 1966 and served as Ah San until 1984. She was subsequently scrapped.

Namesake

Harry Lee Corl was born on 26 March 1914 in Lambertville, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy on 20 November 1934. He was discharged in 1938, but enlisted again the following year, rising to Ensign on 15 June 1942. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in the Battle of Midway, when he was the pilot of a torpedo plane in the assault against the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet. He was reported missing on a mission in the South Pacific on 24 August 1942, and was presumed dead 25 August.

History

U.S. Navy (1945–1946)

Construction and commissioning

Harry Li. Corl was laid down as the

Crosley-class high-speed transport and redesignated APD-108 on 17 July 1944. After conversion to her new role, she was commissioned

on 5 June 1945.

North Pacific

Following her

San Diego, California, on 19 August 1945, four days after the end of World War II

.

Harry L. Corl was assigned the duty of carrying supplies and men to northern

Dutch Harbor, Territory of Alaska, on 1 September 1945 and at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Soviet Union on 6 September 1945. There she unloaded cargo

and helped to establish a weather station.

Harry L. Corl made three more supply voyages from Attu in the Aleutian Islands to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and then steamed to Seattle on 21 November 1945. After a voyage to Alaskan ports with passengers she returned to Seattle on 11 January 1946.

Scheduled for inactivation, Harry L. Corl then set course for

United States East Coast. She arrived at New York City on 20 March 1946 and at Green Cove Springs, Florida

, on 12 April 1946.

Decommissioning

Harry L. Corl was

Navy List

on 15 January 1966.

Republic of Korea Navy (1966–1984)

Harry L. Corl was delivered to

ROKS Ah San (PG-82)

. Over her years of service, Ah San's designation was changed from PG-82 to APD-82, then to APD-823, and finally to DE-823.

The Republic of Korea Navy deleted Ah San in 1984. She subsequently was scrapped.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive USS Harry L. Corl (APD-108)