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DANFS History

USS Chilton APA 38

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Chilton Main Page Click Here

Glen Ayer provided the original material related to the Mountrail - when the site went live in February 2002, half the material on the entire site was from him..

Other material was contributed by the grandson of Aaron Holzwarth, Nathan David Mitchell and by Bruce Garry, son of Charles Garry, Bert Johnston and Pete Bertram.

Other than the Neshoba, my Dad's ship, this is the largest collection of images relating to a ship in the site.

 

For reunion information, contact:

Don Dicoio dicoio44@aol.com 

Links to Other Amphibious Ships:

APA Links and The National Amphibious Veterans Assoc.
APA 2 Harris LSV 6 Montauk  AV7 Currituck APA 8 Biddle
APA 16 J Franklin Bell APA 38 Chilton APA  54 Wayne AKA 70 Tate
AKA 87 Duplin APA 094 Baxter   AKA 106 UNION APA 137 Bowie
APA 154 Video Links APA Blueprints from APA 154 APA 154 Lowdnes
APA 156 Mellette AP 157 General Ballou   APA 158 Newberry   APA 159 Darke
USS Gage APA168 APA 174 Jerauld APA 193 Sanborn APA 196 Logan  
APA 198 McCracken APA 200 Marathon APA 208 Talladega APA 209 Tazewell  
APA 211 Missoula APA 213 Mountrail APA 214 Natrona   APA 218 Noble
 APA 216 Neshoba APA 219 Okaloosa APA 232 San Saba
LST 597

Links to other Ship's WebPages

LCI (L) 664   Large Slow Targets

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USS Chilton APA 38 - DANFS history

Named after a county in Alabama.

Bayfield Class APA

Chilton (APA-38) was launched 29 December 1942 by Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract, as Sea Needle; sponsored by Mrs. W. A. Riley, Jr.; acquired by the Navy 29 May 1943; converted at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 7 December 1943, Commander A. C. Geisenhoff, USNR, in command.

Chilton served at Newport as a training ship for precommissioning crews of attack transports from 31 January 1943 to 15 October 1944. She sailed from Boston 20 November for San Diego before arriving at Pearl Harbor 23 January 1945. Here she embarked troops, and sailed by way of Eniwetok and Ulithi, to Leyte, arriving 21 February. After rehearsal landings, Chilton put out of Leyte 16 March to land troops at Kerama Retto 26 March in a key preliminary to the assault on Okinawa. She remained off Okinawa as flagship for Transport Squadron 17 supporting the establishment and reinforcement of beachheads until 30 April, departing then for San Francisco and overhaul.

Chilton returned to Ulithi 17 July 1945 to load troops and cargo for Okinawa, where she lay until 31 August. From then until 8 December, when she arrived at Seattle, Chilton had duty in the redeployment of United States and Chinese troops, calling at Jinsen, Tientsin, Hong Kong, Chinwangtao, Tsingtao, and Nagoya. She cleared Seattle 21 December for the first of two "Magic Carpet" voyages to the Philippines and Okinawa to carry home servicemen, returning from the second of these to San Francisco 10 May 1946. She cleared San Francisco 2 June to participate in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini, returned to San Francisco 1 August, and sailed for transport duty in China and Japan from 7 September to 22 January 1947. She visited the Bikini area as a floating laboratory that summer, then returned to San Diego for local operations.

Chilton cleared San Diego 15 November 1948 to withdraw Marines from China, returning to San Diego 31 May. Local operations and exercises in the Hawaiian Islands occupied her until 25 November 1949 when she sailed from San Diego for her new home port, Norfolk, arriving 10 December. Local operations, overhaul, and service as a training ship in Cuban waters preceded her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean, 11 June-20 December 1951. On 21 August 1952, she sailed from Norfolk to participate in NATO Operation "Mainbrace", proceeding to the Mediterranean for duty until 6 February 1953. Chilton has continued to alternate local and Caribbean operations with tours of duty in the Mediterranean from 1954 through 1963.

Chilton received one battle star for World War II service.

Specifications:
Displacement 6,873 t.(lt) 14,837 t.(fl)
Length 455'
Beam 62'
Speed 17.7 kts. (trial)
Complement

Officers 56

Enlisted 480
Troop Accommodations

Officers 86 Officers

Enlisted 1,475
Cargo Capacity 150,000 cu. ft, (non-refrigerated) 2,900 tons
Boats 2 LCM, 12 LCVP, 3 LCPU
Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual-purpose gun mount

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

one quad 40mm AA gun mount

ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
Fuel Capacities

NSFO 7,780 Bbls

Diesel 970 Bbls
Propulsion

one Westinghouse geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 465psi 750°

double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gear

three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

single propeller, 8,500shp