USS Bollinger (APA-234)

USS Bollinger during the Battle of Iwo Jima, March 1945
History
United States
Name: USS Bollinger (APA-234)
Namesake: Bollinger County, Missouri
Builder: Kaiser Shipbuilding
Laid down: 7 October 1944
Launched: 19 November 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs T. Mead
Acquired: 8 December 1944
Commissioned: 9 December 1944
Decommissioned: 1 April 1947
Reclassified: LPA-234, 1 January 1969
Struck: 22 May 1947
Honours and
awards:
Two battle stars for World War II
Fate: Probably scrapped in 1975
General characteristics
Class & type: Haskell-class attack transport
Tonnage: 150,000 cu. ft, 2,900 tons
Displacement: 6,720 tons (lt), 14,837 t. (fl)
Length: 455 ft
Beam: 62 ft
Draft: 24 ft
Propulsion: 1 x Joshua Hendy geared turbine, 2 x Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 1 x propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,500
Speed: 17.5 knots
Boats & landing
craft carried:
2 x LCM, 12 x LCVP, 3 x LCPU
Capacity: 86 Officers 1,475 Enlisted
Crew: 56 Officers, 480 enlisted
Armament: 1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 1 x quad 40mm gun mount, 4 x twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 x single 20mm gun mounts
Notes: MCV Hull No. 680, hull type VC2-S-AP5

USS Bollinger (APA-234) was a Haskell-class attack transport that saw service with the US Navy in World War II.

Bollinger was named after Bollinger County, Missouri. She was launched 19 November 1944 by Kaiser Shipbuilding of Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 8 December, and commissioned the next day, Commander C. A. Printup in command.

Operational history

Bollinger joined the Pacific Fleet and arrived at Pearl Harbor 19 February 1945. She departed Pearl Harbor two days later for the invasion of Iwo Jima where she provided logistic support (6–16 March).

After returning to Pearl Harbor 5 April, she made a voyage to San Pedro, California, and back (22 April - 23 May), and then carried cargo and passengers to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Okinawa, Saipan, and Guam before returning to San Francisco on 29 July.

After hostilities

Leaving San Francisco 10 August she steamed to Eniwetok, Ulithi, and the Philippines before landing occupation troops at Wakayama, Honshū, Japan (12–26 September). She made one more voyage from the Philippines to Japan in October and then returned to San Diego, arriving 15 November. The transport made another voyage across the Pacific (December 1945 - January 1946) to bring men home from the Philippines.

Atomic bomb tests

During June and July 1946 she carried passengers to Bikini Atoll for Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests designed to test the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. Over 200 warships participated in this operation, 75 of them as targets.

Decommission

Bollinger then returned to cross-Pacific service and was decommissioned at San Francisco 1 April 1947. She was returned to the Maritime Commission the following day, and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California. While still in the Reserve Fleet, she was redesignated an amphibious transport LPA-234 on 1 January 1969. She was probably scrapped in 1975.

Decorations

Bollinger received one battle star during World War II.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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