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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Goshen (APA-108)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Tango - Papa
 NZTP
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Bayfield Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 31 January 1944, as SS Sea Hare, a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A2) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1553) at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, CA.
  • Launched, 29 June 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy and commissioned USS Goshen (APA-108), 13 December 1944, CAPT. Carroll T. Bonney USN in command
  • During World War II USS Goshen was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Twenty-Two, COMO. S.P. Jenkins;
     TransDiv Sixty-Five, CAPT. E.C. Rogers USN (18); and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 17 to 22 March 1945

  • Following World War II USS Goshen was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    5 to 15 September 1945 
    29 September to 17 November 194529 September to 17 November 1945
    30 November to 11 December 1945 

  • Decommissioned, 20 April 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register,25 April 1946
  • USS Goshen earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 2 May 1946, at the James River National Defense Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Merchant Service
    Towed 22 November 1946, from from Lee Hall, to Brooklyn N.Y.
    Arrived, 23 November 1946, at Todd Shipyard, Erie Basin, Brooklyn, N.Y, for reconversion for merchant service
    Sold, 14 June 1947 to American Mail Lines Ltd., renamed SS Canada Mail
    Renamed SS California Mail, 12 December 1963
    Sold to Waterman Steamship Co., 19 November 1968, renamed SS Lafayette
    Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 14 August 1973, to Chi Shun Hua Steel Co. Ltd, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,100 t.(lt) 16,100 t.(fl)
    Length 492'
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 25'
    Speed 18.4 kts (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 41
    Enlisted 437
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 92
    Enlisted 1470
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 4,500 DWT
    non-refrigerated 180,500 cu ft
    Boats
    twelve LCVPs
    four LCM (Mk-6)s
    three LCP(L) (MK-IV)s
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,510 Bbls
    Diesel 750 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Babcock and Wilcox D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    one propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    SS Sea Hare (War Shipping Administration)
    Goodhue 156k SS Sea Hare (MC hull 1553), Western Pipe & Steel Hull No. 130, launching, 29 June 1944, at Western Pipe & Steel Co., San Francisco. CA. Tommy Trampp
    Goodhue 144k SS Sea Hare (MC hull 1553), Western Pipe & Steel Hull No. 130, fitting out at San Francisco, July and August 1944. Tommy Trampp
    Goodhue 130k
    Goodhue 113k
    Goodhue 119k SS Sea Hare under way probably in San Francisco during builders trials in December 1944. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Goshen (APA-108)
    Goshen 211k USS Goshen (APA-108) under way off the U.S. West Coast during her shakedown cruise, 15 January 1945. She had been commissioned on 13 December 1944. The ship appears to be making a smoke screen from generators mounted on her after deck. This photograph was taken from a blimp of Lighter Than Air Patrol Squadron Thirty One (ZP-31).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 107710     		US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Goshen 83k USS Goshen (APA-108) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Michael Skeen for William G. Hanley, USS Goshen
    Merchant Service American Mail SS Co. Waterman SS Corp.
    Goshen 286k SS California Mail [ex-USS Goshen (APA-108)] in the livery of the American Mail SS. Co. entering the port of Vancouver. B.C., Canada, date unknown.
    Photo ©Ship Photo International.    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Goshen
    100310810    		 146k SS California Mail appears to be at anchor in the anchorage outside Singapore harbor in 1965.
    Photo by Steve Swayne, Maleny, Queensland, Australia    		 Robert Hurst
    Goshen 199k SS Lafayette [ex-USS Goshen (APA-108)] in the livery of the Waterman SS. Co. entering the port of Durban, South Africa, date unknown.
    Photo ©Ship Photo International.    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Goshen (APA-108)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Bonney, Carroll Taber, USN (USNA 1920)13 December 1944 - August 1945
    02CAPT. Knapp, Robert Andrew, USNRAugust 1945 - 20 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 June 2023