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USS Sappho (AKA-38)
Encyclopedia
The second USS Sappho (AKA-38) was an named for the minor planet 80 Sappho
80 Sappho
80 Sappho is a quite large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Norman Pogson on May 2, 1864, and is named after Sappho, the Greek poet.-References:...
, which in turn was named for the Greek poet Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
. USS Sappho served as a commissioned ship for 12 months.
Sappho (AKA-38) was laid down on 12 December 1944 under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1899) 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...
, Providence, R.I.; launched on 3 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. J. G. Stone; 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 24 April 1945, Lt. Comdr. M. A. Beach in command.
Service history
After shakedown, Sappho sailed on 28 May 1945 from NorfolkNaval 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...
, with cargo and personnel for Honolulu, where she arrived on 18 June. On 29 June, she got underway for Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
and Fanning Island, returning to Honolulu on 11 July. The ship began amphibious training off Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
Island on 4 August but terminated the exercises shortly after the Japanese 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...
in mid-August. On 1 September, she departed 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...
with occupation troops
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...
for Japan, arriving at Sasebo on 22 September. She then made a trip to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, returning to Sasebo on 20 October where she reported for "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...
duty. Sappho made two voyages carrying troops home; one from Sasebo, Japan, and one from Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China, before she was released from "Magic Carpet" duty at Seattle on 10 January 1946.
Sappho was decommissioned on 23 May 1946 at Seattle, struck from the Navy list on 15 October 1946, and delivered to the Maritime Commission's reserve fleet
National Defense Reserve Fleet
The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...
at Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, on 13 January 1947. She was sold by the Maritime Administration on 7 September 1965 to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for scrapping.