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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Shelby (APA-105)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Uniform - November
 NZUN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Windsor Class Attack Transport
  • Laid down, 13 June 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A3) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1678) at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 25 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS Shelby (APA-105), 20 January 1945, CAPT. John J. Fallon USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Shelby was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Eleven, COMO. D.W. Loomis USN (18);
    TransDiv Thirty-Two, CAPT. C.W. Weitzel and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 3 to 8 May 1945

  • Following World War II USS Shelby was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 6 to 28 September 1945
  • USS Shelby also was assigned to the US Naval Technical Mission to Japan
  • Decommissioned, 14 May 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • USS Shelby earned one battle star for her World War II service
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 16 May 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946
  • Merchant Service
    Sold for merchant service by the Maritime Commission, 4 November 1948, to American Export Lines, renamed SS Exeter
    Resold, 24 September 1965, renamed SS Oriental Pearl, re-flagged Liberian
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,970 t.(lt) 13,143 t.(fl)
    Length 473' 1"
    Beam 66'
    Draft 25'
    Speed 18.6 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 42
    Enlisted 434
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 94
    Enlisted 1463
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 1,600 DWT
    non-refrigerated 150,000 cu. ft
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 12,330 Bbls
    Diesel 675 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Bethlehem Shipbuilding geared drive turbine
    two Babcock and Wilcox d-type boilers,450psi 750°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gear
    three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    one propeller, 8,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Shelby (APA-105)
    Shelby 99k USS Shelby (APA-105) off Sparrows Point in Chesapeake Bay, 20 January 1945, the day she was commissioned. The later ships of this class were completed with two twin 40-mm antiaircraft mounts aft instead of the quadruple 1.1" mounts in the first ships of the class.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-77401, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    Shelby 45k USS Shelby (APA-105) off Sparrows Point in Chesapeake Bay, 20 January 1945. Note that she had no set of triple Welin davits forward.
    US Navy photo and text from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.    		 Robert Hurst
    Shelby 66k USS Shelby (APA-105) docked pierside at Sasebo, Japan, 22 September 1945 while assigned to the US Naval Technical Mission to Japan Ronnie Owens in honor of his father Marvin H. Owens MM2/c USS Shelby (deceased May, 1984).
    Merchant Service American Export Lines
    Shelby 460k SS Exeter (ex-USS Shelby (APA-105)) underway in American Export Line colors, date and location unknown. Archival photo ©Vic Young. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Shelby (APA-105)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Fallon, John James, USNR20 January 1945 - 14 May 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To the Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Attack Transport Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 18 July 2014