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USS Aurelia (AKA-23)
Encyclopedia
USS Aurelia (AKA-23) was an named after the minor planet 419 Aurelia
419 Aurelia
419 Aurelia is a very large main-belt asteroid. It is classified as an F-type asteroid.It was discovered by Max Wolf on September 7, 1896, in Heidelberg....
. The origin of the name is unknown. USS Aurelia served as a commissioned ship for 17 months.
Aurelia (AKA-23) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1884) on 5 February 1944 at Providence, R.I., by the Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc.
Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc.
Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. was a shipyard in both Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island. It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. It was originally operated by Rheem Manufacturing, a company with no previous...
; launched on 4 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Roy P. Mills; and acquired and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 14 October 1944, Lt. Comdr. E. G. MacMurdy in command.
1944
In early November 1944, the attack cargo ship got underway for shakedown training in the Chesapeake BayChesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. She arrived at Norfolk, Va.
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
, on the 23d to embark troops and load cargo, sailed on the 28th for Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
— via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
— and reached Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 17 December.
1945
Aurelia got underway on 5 January 1945 to carry troops and cargo to Eniwetok and GuamGuam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. She returned to Hawaii on 5 February to embark more troops. On the 13th, the ship sailed, via Eniwetok, for the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. She dropped anchor at Leyte on 4 March and began unloading her cargo the next day. On 6 March, she embarked combat troops scheduled to assault Okinawa and got underway for training maneuvers. Three weeks later, the attack cargo ship headed for the Ryukyus. On 1 April, D day for the landings on Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
, she entered the transport area and began lowering her boats. Aurelia continued to operate in that embattled area until 14 April when she headed for Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. On the 16th, she continued on toward Hawaii. After a four-day stay in Pearl Harbor, the ship sailed for the California coast and arrived at Alameda on 12 May.
The vessel moved to San Diego on 7 June for amphibious training exercises. She began loading her cargo at San Pedro on 24 June and put to sea on the 30th. Aurelia reached Pearl Harbor on 6 July and, 10 days later, sailed for Saipan, via Eniwetok. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 12 August. While she was in port there, word of Japan's capitulation
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
on 15 August reached the ship. Aurelia embarked Marines slated for occupation duty
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
and got underway on 1 September for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The ship debarked her passengers at Sasebo and sailed on 26 September for the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to pick up Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
troops and equipment for transportation to Sasebo.
The vessel reached Sasebo on 21 October and was then assigned to the Magic Carpet
Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)
Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II effort by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and CBI theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships, and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from...
fleet. She received on board Marine Corps personnel for passage back to the United States and delivered them to San Francisco on 13 November. She stood out to sea on the 29th for her last round-trip voyage to the Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
, embarked another contingent of veterans in Japan, and arrived back in San Francisco on 16 January 1946.
Decommissioning
On 24 January, Aurelia sailed, via the Panama Canal, for the Gulf Coast. She reached New Orleans, La., on 7 February and was decommissioned at Orange, TexasOrange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
, on 14 March 1946. The ship was then transferred to the Maritime Commission, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 19 June 1946.
Aurelia earned one battle star for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.