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USS Warren (APA-53)
Encyclopedia
USS Warren (APA-53) was a Sumter-class
attack transport
that served with the US Navy during World War II
.
Jean Lafitte - named for the legendary pirate of Barataria, Louisiana
, who assisted General Andrew Jackson
in defending New Orleans against the British
in 1815 - was a C2-S-E1-type merchant ship laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 415) on 19 April 1942 at Chickasaw, Alabama
, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 7 September 1942; renamed Warren and classified a transport, AP-98; redesignated as an attack transport, APA-53, on 1 February 1943; and placed in commission, in ordinary, on 19 February 1943.
Taken to the Key Highway plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation soon thereafter, the ship was decommissioned on 10 March 1943; and was recommissioned on 2 August 1943, CDR William A. McHale, USNR, in command.
. In intensive exercises, the ship practiced the amphibious tactics
and techniques that she would soon be putting into practice.
On 1 November 1943, Warren departed Hampton Roads
and headed for Panama
, reaching the Canal Zone on the 5th after a brief stop at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
, en route. Following her transit of the Panama Canal
, Warren pushed on for San Diego and reached that California
port on 17 November. The ship subsequently underwent repairs and a drydocking at Long Beach
before she returned to San Diego for more amphibious training. From 26 November 1943 to 13 January 1944, Warren landed troops of the 4th Marine Division in practice assaults at Aliso Canyon
and San Clemente Island
.
On the latter day, Friday 13 January 1944, Warren sailed for the Central Pacific with men of the 1st Battalion
, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, embarked. Steaming via the Hawaiian Islands
, the attack transport arrived off the northern islets of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls
at dawn on 31 January.
The marines embarked in Warren were assigned the task of taking two small islands in the atoll
, nicknamed "Ivan" and "Jacob." Those isles lay to the south of Roi and amur, two heavily fortified areas of the atoll. Her marines were to secure both a guarded passage into the lagoon
and artillery
bases from which to soften up the defenses on the main islands, Roi
and Namur
, in support of the landings slated to take place the following day. The initial men ashore encountered minor opposition, and the casualties sustained were very light.
Warren eased into the lagoon on 1 February and continued the process of discharging munitions and cargo for her troops ashore. After a channel had been blasted through the coral
, the attack transport's beach party supervised the arrival of supplies on "Ivan." Warren herself remained in the lagoon with other ships from her division for the next five days. Warren departed Kwajalein on 4 February, leaving the island still smoking "and reeking with the stench of unburied dead." As the ship's commanding officer later wrote, "we knew now the horror of war."
Sailing southward, the attack transport reached Funafuti
in the Ellice Islands on 9 February, before she continued onward, arriving at Noumea, New Caledonia, on 19 February. She ultimately weighed anchor from New Caledonian waters on 7 March and got underway for Guadalcanal
- the scene of once-bitter fighting. She arrived off Lunga Point
on the morning of the 10th and spent the majority of her days over the next three months in the Guadalcanal-Tulagi
area. The only exceptions were trips to Kwajalein to pick up marines from the 22nd Marine Regiment and to Cape Gloucester
--where she landed the troops from elements of the Army's 40th Infantry Division and returned to the Russells with men of the 1st Marine Division embarked.
At the end of May, Warren completed the loading of the men of the 3rd Battalion
, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, and headed north in convoy--her objective Guam
, where she was to debark the marines after their comrades had landed at Saipan
in the Marianas
.
However, because of the fierceness of the Japanese resistance on Saipan, Warren 's mission was aborted; and she therefore spent over a week cruising off that island, standing by with her marines forming a reserve force. Ultimately, however, Warrens leatherneck
s were not needed, and the ship returned to Eniwetok, to commence a three-week stay in the Marshall Islands.
Warren finally received the nod to go into action once more, and she accordingly sailed for Guam, sending boatloads of marines from the 3rd Marine Division ashore on 20 July. Over the ensuing five days, Warren remained off the bitterly contested beaches, her beach party lying pinned-down in their foxholes ashore. "So perilous was the position on the Warren beach - the left flank of the assault", wrote Warren 's commanding officer, "that supplies could not be landed there." Time and time again, Warrens hospital corpsmen exposed themselves to enemy fire evacuating wounded marines and the ship's boat crews went to the reef's edge to pick up the precious cargo of human lives beneath the enemy's mortar
fire.
in the Solomons
, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade - combat veterans of the Guadalcanal campaign. The attack transport then took those combat-hardened marines to the island of Peleliu
in the Palau
s. Despite the carrier
-based air strikes and intense bombardment which preceded the initial landings of 15 September, the marines who went ashore that day still met fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders. The enemy, firmly entrenched in caves and tunnels that honeycombed the hills overlooking the beach and the strategic airfield, proved difficult to dislodge.
Again, Warrens beach party worked to keep the supplies flowing from the ship to shore where they were needed, providing the necessary supplies and ammunition for the hard-pressed marines. Meanwhile, as the casualties began coming back to the ship, the attack transport's medical department worked diligently to save the wounded. Among the first ships to discharge her cargo, Warren remained offshore in the ensuing days, becoming a floating hospital, as doctors and corpsmen worked to sustain lives of men
evacuated from "the flaming hell of Peleliu."
The routine remained almost the same during the days and nights that Warren lay off the beachhead. Each night there would be more burials at sea while the crew waited at battle stations for what became almost a regular visit by snooping Japanese planes. It was not until 22 September that Warren departed Pelelieu, bound for New Guinea
.
on 25 September and stayed there until 15 October, when she embarked the men and equipment of the Army's 52nd Field Artillery, 24th Division Artillery, 24th Infantry Division. As part of TG 78.6, she subsequently sailed for the Philippine Islands, as General Douglas MacArthur
made good his pledge to return - this time well-backed by ships, men, and planes - to the islands from which he had been so unceremoniously ejected in 1942.
On 22 October - two days after the initial landings on Leyte
commenced - Warren discharged her cargo and disembarked her troops before pulling out of the area that evening. Warren returned to Leyte on 14 November, this time with six Red Cross nurses as passengers in addition to the Army 1st Battalion, 127th Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. The attack transport's commanding officer later recounted: "We all recalled that old superstition of the sea--'women on board ship bring bad luck'--when a Jap torpedo
plane came close to hitting us with its deadly charge the afternoon before we sailed into Leyte Gulf
." Warren relied on more than luck to enable her to escape damage--it was the straight-shooting of the after 5 inches (127 mm) gun that did the trick.
The enemy aircraft, a torpedo-carrying "Jill"
, bore in at the attack transport while flak blossomed about it. Only at the last instant a 5-inch shell blew the right wing off the "Jill", sending the plane sliding past Warrens fantail and into the sea. Later that day, the attack transport witnessed other air attacks in her vicinity and watched while an Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning darted daringly through the flak to explode a Japanese fighter
in mid-air with a burst from her machine guns.
Leyte was still a hot target, so Warrens unloading was efficient and rapid, discharging her cargo within a few hours and getting underway that evening and then slipping away in the darkness, bound for New Guinea. After stopping at Manus
, in the Admiralties
, and Oro Bay
, Warren reached Milne Bay
, New Guinea, on 27 November. The attack transport remained at Milne Bay through Christmas Day.
off Luzon
where the ship lost the first members of her crew to enemy action.
The first boat to leave the ship during the landings carried half of Warrens beach party, along with several members of the Army shore party embarked. Due to the heavy smoke screen and a faulty boat compass, the landing craft landed on a Japanese held beach near the town of Damortis. It was a fatal mistake. Before it could get underway, the boat came under artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire, wrecking the vessel, killing several men, and wounding others. The remaining men abandoned the craft and began to swim away from the beach, but the Japanese automatic weapons opened up on them as they struggled to get out of range. Only 17 men out of 28 survived the deadly hail of fire. It was two hours before the survivors - many of them badly wounded - were picked up.
By their firing on Warrens boat, the Japanese gave away positions that pre-attack bombardments and bombings had not reached. Accordingly, destroyer
and two fast transports moved in close and joined Army heavy artillery in bombarding the area until all opposition was silenced completely.
On the 13th, a Japanese plane came out of the clouds off the ship's port bow, apparently intent on crashing into Warren. Antiaircraft fire reached up and blossomed in the sky around the intruder. While still several hundred yards away from the attack transport, the plane leveled off, swooped directly over Warren and headed for attack transport .
As Warrens men watched, horror-stricken, the drama unfolded before their eyes, as the kamikaze
plunged headlong into Zeilin. Warren herself was raked by machine gun fire from a "friendly" ship. Shells coming from the port quarter pounded the attack transport's port side. One man of her boat group, manning a gun in the cockpit in one of the ship's landing craft
, was killed outright. On the flying bridge
alone, there were 22 casualties.
Warren completed her unloading on 15 January and returned. Ultimately, the attack transport completed one last voyage carrying troops, landing the men of the 1st Battalion, 163rd Regiment, 41st Infantry Division, at Mindoro
in the Philippines, after lifting them from Biak Island, New Guinea. Later discharging all surplus supplies and all but two of her landing craft, Warren steamed eastward via Eniwetok and stopped at Pearl Harbor on 18 March before heading on toward the west coast of the United States
on 20 March.
, on the 27th, Warren underwent an overhaul there, lasting into June 1945. Subsequently shifting to San Diego and then to San Francisco, the attack transport departed the west coast on 24 June, bound for the Marshalls, and arrived at Eniwetok on 6 July. From there, she sailed via Ulithi
to Okinawa and arrived off that island on 23 July. Over the next few days, Warren unloaded the men and material of the 66th Construction Battalion ("Seabees"), undergoing nearly constant air raid alerts as the enemy maintained its pressure on the invading Americans.
From 1 to 3 August, Warren steamed in circles off Okinawa, riding on the outer edge of a typhoon, and sailed for Ulithi on the 6th. Arriving at her destination soon thereafter, Warren lay at anchor in Ulithi lagoon when the word of Japan's capitulation was received.
, reaching that body of water on 13 September, less than two weeks after the formal surrender ceremony on board the battleship
.
The attack transport subsequently sailed for Okinawa, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and their equipment. She sailed from Okinawan waters on 29 September and reached the mouth of the Taku River
- the approaches to the city of Tientsin, China
- on 2 October. She thus completed the second of her occupation tasks, disembarking the marines over the ensuing days.
Warren departed Taku Bar on 11 October and reached Manila a few days later. She then left Philippine waters for a three-day voyage across the South China Sea
to the Gulf of Tonkin
. Reaching Haiphong
on 26 October, Warren embarked 1,800 troops of the Chinese 52nd Army before she departed that port, bound for Manchuria
.
However, because of unsettled conditions between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces in Manchuria - a part of the brewing civil war
that would reach its climax in the expulsion of the Nationalists from mainland China to Formosa
in 1949 - Warren sailed instead to Chinwangtao, China, the seaport at the base of the Great Wall
. There, she debarked her passengers on 7 November. Two days later, Warren dropped down the coast for her second visit to Taku and Tientsin.
port until 14 January 1946, when she got underway for New Orleans. Transiting the Panama Canal soon thereafter, Warren pushed on to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
. Decommissioned on 14 March 1946, Warren was struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946 and turned over to the War Shipping Administration
on 1 August of the same year at Mobile, Alabama
.
, the ship apparently kept her original name Jean Lafitte, for only a short time. Renamed Arizpa in 1947, the former attack transport was converted for merchant service and operated under the Waterman house flag until 1966, when she appeared on contemporary merchant vessels registers as operating with Litton Industries Leasing Corp. of Wilmington, Delaware
.
Arizpa operated with Litton until 1976, when she was transferred to the Reynolds Leading Corp., also of Wilmington. At some stage she was converted into a container vessel for Sea-Land Service. She was reportedly scrapped at Brownsville, Texas
in September 1977.
Sumter class attack transport
The Sumter-class attack transport was a class of attack transport built for service with the US Navy in World War II.Like all attack transports, the purpose of the Sumters was to transport troops and their equipment to foreign shores in order to execute amphibious invasions using an array of...
attack transport
Attack transport
Attack Transport is a United States Navy ship classification.-History:In the early 1940s, as the United States Navy expanded in response to the threat of involvement in World War II, a number of civilian passenger ships and some freighters were acquired, converted to transports and given hull...
that served with the US Navy during 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...
.
Jean Lafitte - named for the legendary pirate of Barataria, Louisiana
Barataria, Louisiana
Barataria is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,333 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, who assisted General Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
in defending New Orleans against the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1815 - was a C2-S-E1-type merchant ship laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 415) on 19 April 1942 at Chickasaw, Alabama
Chickasaw, Alabama
Chickasaw is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. As of July 2007, the population was 5,979. It is included in the Mobile metropolitan statistical area.-Geography:Chickasaw is located at . According to the U.S...
, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 7 September 1942; renamed Warren and classified a transport, AP-98; redesignated as an attack transport, APA-53, on 1 February 1943; and placed in commission, in ordinary, on 19 February 1943.
Taken to the Key Highway plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation soon thereafter, the ship was decommissioned on 10 March 1943; and was recommissioned on 2 August 1943, CDR William A. McHale, USNR, in command.
World War II
Warren soon sailed south to the Norfolk Navy Yard, where the work converting her to an attack transport was completed and she was fitted out for service. She next conducted her shakedown and type training in the waters of 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...
. In intensive exercises, the ship practiced the amphibious tactics
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
and techniques that she would soon be putting into practice.
On 1 November 1943, Warren departed Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
and headed for Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, reaching the Canal Zone on the 5th after a brief stop at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, en route. Following her transit of 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...
, Warren pushed on for San Diego and reached that California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
port on 17 November. The ship subsequently underwent repairs and a drydocking at Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
before she returned to San Diego for more amphibious training. From 26 November 1943 to 13 January 1944, Warren landed troops of the 4th Marine Division in practice assaults at Aliso Canyon
Aliso Canyon
Aliso Canyon is a canyon cut through the San Joaquin Hills by Aliso Creek. Located in Orange County in the U.S. state of California, the canyon's name derives from the Spanish word for alder....
and San Clemente Island
San Clemente Island
San Clemente Island is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 2 of Census Tract 5991 of Los Angeles County, California, it is long and...
.
Invasion of Kwajalein
1st Battalion 25th Marines
1st Battalion, 25th Marines is a reserve infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps located throughout New England consisting of approximately 750 Marines and Sailors...
, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, embarked. Steaming via the Hawaiian Islands
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...
, the attack transport arrived off the northern islets of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
at dawn on 31 January.
The marines embarked in Warren were assigned the task of taking two small islands in the atoll
Atoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
, nicknamed "Ivan" and "Jacob." Those isles lay to the south of Roi and amur, two heavily fortified areas of the atoll. Her marines were to secure both a guarded passage into the lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
bases from which to soften up the defenses on the main islands, Roi
ROI
-Roi:Roi may refer to:*Roi, a 1993 song by The Breeders in their album Last Splash*Roi Et and Roi Et province in Thailand*Roi Klein, an Israeli Defense major*Roi-Namur, an island in the Marshall Islands...
and Namur
Roi-Namur
Roi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
, in support of the landings slated to take place the following day. The initial men ashore encountered minor opposition, and the casualties sustained were very light.
Warren eased into the lagoon on 1 February and continued the process of discharging munitions and cargo for her troops ashore. After a channel had been blasted through the coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
, the attack transport's beach party supervised the arrival of supplies on "Ivan." Warren herself remained in the lagoon with other ships from her division for the next five days. Warren departed Kwajalein on 4 February, leaving the island still smoking "and reeking with the stench of unburied dead." As the ship's commanding officer later wrote, "we knew now the horror of war."
Sailing southward, the attack transport reached Funafuti
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...
in the Ellice Islands on 9 February, before she continued onward, arriving at Noumea, New Caledonia, on 19 February. She ultimately weighed anchor from New Caledonian waters on 7 March and got underway for Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
- the scene of once-bitter fighting. She arrived off Lunga Point
Lunga Point
Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field....
on the morning of the 10th and spent the majority of her days over the next three months in the Guadalcanal-Tulagi
Tulagi
Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida...
area. The only exceptions were trips to Kwajalein to pick up marines from the 22nd Marine Regiment and to Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester is a headland, in the northwest of the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . During World War II, the Japanese captured New Britain, and had driven most of Cape Gloucester's native population out to construct two airfields...
--where she landed the troops from elements of the Army's 40th Infantry Division and returned to the Russells with men of the 1st Marine Division embarked.
Invasion of Guam
3rd Battalion 3rd Marines
3rd Battalion 3rd Marines or ' is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps, based out of Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i, and consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors.The United States Marine Corps is a part of the Department of the Navy. Traditionally, the Navy has supplied it with...
, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, and headed north in convoy--her objective Guam
Guam
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...
, where she was to debark the marines after their comrades had landed at 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...
in the Marianas
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
.
However, because of the fierceness of the Japanese resistance on Saipan, Warren 's mission was aborted; and she therefore spent over a week cruising off that island, standing by with her marines forming a reserve force. Ultimately, however, Warrens leatherneck
Leatherneck
Leatherneck is a military slang term for a member of the United States Marine Corps. Now accepted by Webster as a synonym for Marine, the term "Leatherneck" was derived from a leather stock once worn around the neck by both American and British Marines—and soldiers also. Beginning in 1798, "one...
s were not needed, and the ship returned to Eniwetok, to commence a three-week stay in the Marshall Islands.
Warren finally received the nod to go into action once more, and she accordingly sailed for Guam, sending boatloads of marines from the 3rd Marine Division ashore on 20 July. Over the ensuing five days, Warren remained off the bitterly contested beaches, her beach party lying pinned-down in their foxholes ashore. "So perilous was the position on the Warren beach - the left flank of the assault", wrote Warren 's commanding officer, "that supplies could not be landed there." Time and time again, Warrens hospital corpsmen exposed themselves to enemy fire evacuating wounded marines and the ship's boat crews went to the reef's edge to pick up the precious cargo of human lives beneath the enemy's mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
fire.
Invasion of Peleliu
After departing Guam on 25 July, Warren evacuated marine casualties to Espiritu Santo. She then shifted to the Russell IslandsRussell Islands
The Russell Islands are two small islands, as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. They are located approximately 48 km northwest from Guadalcanal. The islands are partially covered in coconut plantations, and have a copra and oil factory at...
in the Solomons
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade - combat veterans of the Guadalcanal campaign. The attack transport then took those combat-hardened marines to the island of Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
in the Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
s. Despite the carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
-based air strikes and intense bombardment which preceded the initial landings of 15 September, the marines who went ashore that day still met fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders. The enemy, firmly entrenched in caves and tunnels that honeycombed the hills overlooking the beach and the strategic airfield, proved difficult to dislodge.
Again, Warrens beach party worked to keep the supplies flowing from the ship to shore where they were needed, providing the necessary supplies and ammunition for the hard-pressed marines. Meanwhile, as the casualties began coming back to the ship, the attack transport's medical department worked diligently to save the wounded. Among the first ships to discharge her cargo, Warren remained offshore in the ensuing days, becoming a floating hospital, as doctors and corpsmen worked to sustain lives of men
evacuated from "the flaming hell of Peleliu."
The routine remained almost the same during the days and nights that Warren lay off the beachhead. Each night there would be more burials at sea while the crew waited at battle stations for what became almost a regular visit by snooping Japanese planes. It was not until 22 September that Warren departed Pelelieu, bound for New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.
Invasion of Leyte
She arrived at HollandiaJayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
on 25 September and stayed there until 15 October, when she embarked the men and equipment of the Army's 52nd Field Artillery, 24th Division Artillery, 24th Infantry Division. As part of TG 78.6, she subsequently sailed for the Philippine Islands, as General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
made good his pledge to return - this time well-backed by ships, men, and planes - to the islands from which he had been so unceremoniously ejected in 1942.
On 22 October - two days after the initial landings on Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
commenced - Warren discharged her cargo and disembarked her troops before pulling out of the area that evening. Warren returned to Leyte on 14 November, this time with six Red Cross nurses as passengers in addition to the Army 1st Battalion, 127th Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. The attack transport's commanding officer later recounted: "We all recalled that old superstition of the sea--'women on board ship bring bad luck'--when a Jap torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
plane came close to hitting us with its deadly charge the afternoon before we sailed into Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
." Warren relied on more than luck to enable her to escape damage--it was the straight-shooting of the after 5 inches (127 mm) gun that did the trick.
Nakajima B6N
The Nakajima B6N Tenzan was the Imperial Japanese Navy's standard carrier-borne torpedo bomber during the final years of World War II and the successor to the B5N "Kate"...
, bore in at the attack transport while flak blossomed about it. Only at the last instant a 5-inch shell blew the right wing off the "Jill", sending the plane sliding past Warrens fantail and into the sea. Later that day, the attack transport witnessed other air attacks in her vicinity and watched while an Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning darted daringly through the flak to explode a Japanese fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
in mid-air with a burst from her machine guns.
Leyte was still a hot target, so Warrens unloading was efficient and rapid, discharging her cargo within a few hours and getting underway that evening and then slipping away in the darkness, bound for New Guinea. After stopping at Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
, in the Admiralties
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
, and Oro Bay
Oro Bay
Oro Bay is a bay in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, located southeast of Buna. The bay is located within the larger Dyke Ackland Bay. A port is operated by PNG Ports Corporation Limited with limited wharf facilities.-History:...
, Warren reached Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea, on 27 November. The attack transport remained at Milne Bay through Christmas Day.
Invasion of Luzon
Underway on 26 December 1944, Warren picked up her convoy at Manus and then set out for Leyte again on 2 January 1945. Nine days later, she reached Lingayen GulfLingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
off Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
where the ship lost the first members of her crew to enemy action.
The first boat to leave the ship during the landings carried half of Warrens beach party, along with several members of the Army shore party embarked. Due to the heavy smoke screen and a faulty boat compass, the landing craft landed on a Japanese held beach near the town of Damortis. It was a fatal mistake. Before it could get underway, the boat came under artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire, wrecking the vessel, killing several men, and wounding others. The remaining men abandoned the craft and began to swim away from the beach, but the Japanese automatic weapons opened up on them as they struggled to get out of range. Only 17 men out of 28 survived the deadly hail of fire. It was two hours before the survivors - many of them badly wounded - were picked up.
By their firing on Warrens boat, the Japanese gave away positions that pre-attack bombardments and bombings had not reached. Accordingly, destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
and two fast transports moved in close and joined Army heavy artillery in bombarding the area until all opposition was silenced completely.
"Friendly fire" casualties
As Warrens men watched, horror-stricken, the drama unfolded before their eyes, as the kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
plunged headlong into Zeilin. Warren herself was raked by machine gun fire from a "friendly" ship. Shells coming from the port quarter pounded the attack transport's port side. One man of her boat group, manning a gun in the cockpit in one of the ship's landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
, was killed outright. On the flying bridge
Flying bridge
A flying bridge is a area on top of, or at the side of, a ship's pilothouse, or closed bridge, that serves as an operating station for the ship's officers in good weather or when maneuvering in port, where good views along the ship sides are important...
alone, there were 22 casualties.
Warren completed her unloading on 15 January and returned. Ultimately, the attack transport completed one last voyage carrying troops, landing the men of the 1st Battalion, 163rd Regiment, 41st Infantry Division, at Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
in the Philippines, after lifting them from Biak Island, New Guinea. Later discharging all surplus supplies and all but two of her landing craft, Warren steamed eastward via Eniwetok and stopped at Pearl Harbor on 18 March before heading on toward the west coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 20 March.
Transport mission to Okinawa
Reaching Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, on the 27th, Warren underwent an overhaul there, lasting into June 1945. Subsequently shifting to San Diego and then to San Francisco, the attack transport departed the west coast on 24 June, bound for the Marshalls, and arrived at Eniwetok on 6 July. From there, she sailed via Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
to Okinawa and arrived off that island on 23 July. Over the next few days, Warren unloaded the men and material of the 66th Construction Battalion ("Seabees"), undergoing nearly constant air raid alerts as the enemy maintained its pressure on the invading Americans.
From 1 to 3 August, Warren steamed in circles off Okinawa, riding on the outer edge of a typhoon, and sailed for Ulithi on the 6th. Arriving at her destination soon thereafter, Warren lay at anchor in Ulithi lagoon when the word of Japan's capitulation was received.
After hostilities
Warren put into Cebu harbor to load units of the Army's Americal Division; but, before she embarked those troops, her orders were changed. Instead, she was to proceed to Manila. There, she embarked the troops of the Army's 43rd Division and headed for Tokyo BayTokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
, reaching that body of water on 13 September, less than two weeks after the formal surrender ceremony on board the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
.
The attack transport subsequently sailed for Okinawa, where she embarked men of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and their equipment. She sailed from Okinawan waters on 29 September and reached the mouth of the Taku River
Taku River
The Taku River is a river running from British Columbia, Canada, to the northwestern coast of North America, at Juneau, Alaska. Its mouth coincides with the Alaska-British Columbia border...
- the approaches to the city of Tientsin, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- on 2 October. She thus completed the second of her occupation tasks, disembarking the marines over the ensuing days.
Warren departed Taku Bar on 11 October and reached Manila a few days later. She then left Philippine waters for a three-day voyage across the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
to the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...
. Reaching Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
on 26 October, Warren embarked 1,800 troops of the Chinese 52nd Army before she departed that port, bound for Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
.
However, because of unsettled conditions between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces in Manchuria - a part of the brewing civil war
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
that would reach its climax in the expulsion of the Nationalists from mainland China to Formosa
Formosa
Formosa or Ilha Formosa is a Portuguese historical name for Taiwan , literally meaning, "Beautiful Island". The term may also refer to:-Places:* Formosa Strait, another name for the Taiwan Strait...
in 1949 - Warren sailed instead to Chinwangtao, China, the seaport at the base of the Great Wall
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. There, she debarked her passengers on 7 November. Two days later, Warren dropped down the coast for her second visit to Taku and Tientsin.
Operation Magic Carpet
On 16 November, Warren sailed for Manila and participation in the mass movement of men back to the continental United States, Operation Magic Carpet. After lifting a contingent of seabees to Guam at the end of November, Warren streamed a "homeward bound" pennant on 1 December and set her course for the California coast.Decommission
Reaching San Francisco on 17 December, Warren remained at that west coastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
port until 14 January 1946, when she got underway for New Orleans. Transiting the Panama Canal soon thereafter, Warren pushed on to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. Decommissioned on 14 March 1946, Warren was struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946 and turned over to the War Shipping Administration
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
on 1 August of the same year at Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
.
Commercial service
Subsequently acquired by the Waterman Steamship CorporationWaterman Steamship Corporation
Waterman Steamship Corporation is an American deep sea ocean carrier, specializing in liner services and time charter contracts. It is owned by International Shipholding Corporation, based in Mobile, Alabama....
, the ship apparently kept her original name Jean Lafitte, for only a short time. Renamed Arizpa in 1947, the former attack transport was converted for merchant service and operated under the Waterman house flag until 1966, when she appeared on contemporary merchant vessels registers as operating with Litton Industries Leasing Corp. of Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
.
Arizpa operated with Litton until 1976, when she was transferred to the Reynolds Leading Corp., also of Wilmington. At some stage she was converted into a container vessel for Sea-Land Service. She was reportedly scrapped at Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
in September 1977.