USS Randall

	USS Randall (APA-224), circa in 1945
History
United States
Name	Randall
Namesake	Randall County, Texas
Ordered	as a MCE hull 572
Builder	Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Yard number	572
Laid down	15 September 1944
Launched	15 November 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Donald D. Dick
Commissioned	12 December 1944
Decommissioned	6 April 1956
Stricken	1 July 1960
Identification	Hull symbol: APA-224; Code letters: NPRK; ;
Fate	laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Orange, Texas, Group, 6 April 1956; reassigned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 19 February 1960; sold, 28 October 1971, withdrawn, 12 January 1972;
General characteristics
Class and type	Haskell-class attack transport
Type	Type VC2-S-AP5
Displacement	6,873 long tons (6,983 t) (light load) ; 14,837 long tons (15,075 t) (full load);
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	24 ft (7.3 m)
Installed power	2 × Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 465 psi (3,210 kPa) 750 °F (399 °C); 8,500 shp (6,338 kW);
Propulsion	1 × geared turbine; 1 x propeller;
Speed	17.7 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);
Troops	87 officers, 1,475 enlisted
Complement	56 officers, 480 enlisted
Armament	1 × dual purpose gun; 1 × quad anti-aircraft (AA) gun mounts; 4 × twin 40mm Bofors (AA) gun mounts; 10 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon cannons AA mounts;
Service record
Part of:	TransRon 23
Awards:	China Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal; National Defense Service Medal;

USS Randall (APA-224) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1956. She was sold for scrap in 1972.

Construction

Randall was of the VC2-S-AP5

Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California; launched 15 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Donald D. Dick; and acquired by the Navy and commissioned 16 December 1944.^[3]

Service history

Following

Okinawa, arriving 12 August.^[3]

Comedian Soupy Sales served on Randall during the war and entertained his shipmates with zany vignettes featuring White Fang, the meanest dog that ever lived.^[4]

Post-war – Operation Magic Carpet

With the end of World War II, Randall was assigned to occupation duty and on 5 September, got underway for

US Army Air Corps units from Okinawa to Seattle.^[3]

Detached from "Magic Carpet" duty in August 1946, Randall was employed in the

east coast, underwent overhaul, and was briefly immobilized at New York. She then steamed to Norfolk, Virginia, arriving 24 April 1947. Assigned again to amphibious training duties, she operated along the southeastern seaboard until August 1948, when she steamed north for operations off eastern Canada. In September she resumed exercises off the Virginia and Carolina coasts.^[3]

In February 1949, she again departed the eastern seaboard this time for

Naval Reservists and Marines, 1 December.^[3]

From 1952, until her decommissioning, the ship sailed from

Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.^[5]^[6]

Citations

^ ^a ^b Kaiser No. 2 2010.
^ Navsource 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f DANFS 2016.
^ Hinckley 2009.
^ Holmes Alexander (27 April 1955). "Navy Tries to Increase Allure of Enlistment". Los Angeles Times.
^ Mooney, James L., editor, The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume IV, Naval History Division, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 1976, Library of Congress card number 60-60198, p. 304.
^ MARAD.

Bibliography

Online resources

"Randall (APA-224)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"Kaiser Permanente No. 2, Richmond CA". ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
"USS Randall (APA-224)". Navsource.org. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
"Randall (APA-224)". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
Hinckley, David (23 October 2009). "Friend remembers Soupy Sales as someone who'd 'do anything for you'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

External links

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Photo gallery of USS Randall (APA-224) at NavSource Naval History

[FOOTNOTEKaiser_No._22010-1] Kaiser No. 2 2010.

[FOOTNOTENavsource2014-2] Navsource 2014.

[FOOTNOTEDANFS2016-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f DANFS 2016.

[FOOTNOTEHinckley2009-4] Hinckley 2009.

[latimes-5] Holmes Alexander (27 April 1955). "Navy Tries to Increase Allure of Enlistment". Los Angeles Times.

[6] Mooney, James L., editor, The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume IV, Naval History Division, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 1976, Library of Congress card number 60-60198, p. 304.

[FOOTNOTEMARAD-7] MARAD.

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USS Randall

Construction

Service history

Post-war – Operation Magic Carpet

Decommissioning

Fate

Notes

Bibliography

External links