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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Wantuck (APD-125)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Quebec - Golf
 NHQG
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 - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (7) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Rudderow Class Destroyer Escort / Crosley Class High-speed Transport:
  • Laid down, 17 August 1944, as Wantuck (DE-692), a Rudderow Class Destroyer Escort, at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Quincy, MA.
  • Redesignated as a Crosley Class High-speed Transport while under construction
  • Launched, 25 September 1944
  • Commissioned USS Wantuck (APD-125), 30 December 1944, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston MA., LCDR. Richard Bensen, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Wantuck was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater TransDiv One Hundred Six, CAPT. F. W. Schmidt USN (20) and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 21 April to 5 May 1945

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

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    2 September to 2 October 19451 February 1948
    21 October to 1 November 19451 July to 5 September 1950

  • During the Korean War USS Wantuck participated in the following campaigns:

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    9 to 14 September 1950
    18 September to 2 November 1950     		Second Korean Winter
    5 to 6, 17 to 18, and 28 to 30 December 1951
    21 to 27 January 1952
    19 to 27 March 1952
    Communist China Aggression
    3 to 21 November 1950     		Third Korean Winter
    8 to 20 April 1953
    Inchon Landing
    15 to 17 September 1950     		Korean Summer-Fall 1953
    1 to 11, and 15 to 19 June 1953
    27 July 1953
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    6 to 10 September 1951
    24 September to 8 October 1951     		 

  • Wantuck was rammed by USS Lenawee (APA-195) in August of 1957, determined to be too badly damaged for repair
  • Decommissioned, 15 November 1957, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 4 March 1958
  • USS Wantuck earned one battle star during World War II and seven battle stars during the Korean War
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 27 October 1958 to Sundfelt Equipment Co., Inc. Wilmington CA.
    APD Specifications:
    Displacement 1,630 t.(lt) 2,130 t.(fl)
    Length 306' ovl.
    Beam 37'
    Draft 12' 7" (limiting)
    Speed 23.6 kts. (trial)
    Range 6,000 nautical miles at 12 kts.
    Complement
    12 Officers
    192 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    12 Officers
    150 Enlisted
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Boats four LCVP landing craft
    Troop Accoutrements
    six 1/4 ton trucks
    two 1 ton trucks
    four ammunition carts
    four pack howitzers
    Storage
    Ammunition 6,000 cu. ft.
    General Cargo 3,500 cu. ft.
    Gasoline 1,000 cu. ft.
    Armament
    one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    three twin 40 mm gun mounts
    six single 20 mm gun mounts
    two depth charge tracks
    Propulsion
    two Babcox and Wilcox "D" Express type boilers, 435 PSI 750°
    two General Electric turbines, (turbo-electric drive) Ship's Service Generators
     two turbo-drive 300Kw 450V A.C.
     two turbo-drive 40Kw 120V D.C.
    two shafts, shaft horsepower 12,000
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Wantuck 126k Forward plan view of USS Wantuck (APD-125) at Navy Yard Mare Island, 28 February 1946. Wantuck was at the yard from 2 January to 3 March 1946. USS Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416) is inboard of Wantuck. Darryl Baker
    Wantuck 143k Aft plan view of USS Wantuck (APD-125) at Navy Yard Mare Island, moored outboard of USS Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416), 28 February 1946. Darryl Baker
    Wantuck
    100412501    		 432k Aerial view of USS Wantuck (APD-125) underway, circa 1950.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # L45-301.02.01    		 Bert Kortrgaard USS Wantuck 1948-51 and
    Mike Smolinski
    Wantuck 497k USS Wantuck (APD-125) off Inchon Invasion Beach, 25 September 1950 Bert Kortrgaard USS Wantuck 1948-51
    Wantuck 30k USS Wantuck (APD-125) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    Wantuck 82k USS Wantuck (APD-125) and USS Comstock (LSD-19) underway while transporting Marines to Inchon, South Korea, date unknown.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-423221 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Wantuck 210k USS Wantuck (APD-125) moored pierside, circa 1952-53, location unknown. John Cloud
    Wantuck 120k A gush in the port side of USS Wantuck (APD-125) makes her look like two ships instead of one as she is edged into drydock for repair, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
    USS Wantuck (APD-125)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Bensen, Richard, USNR30 December 1944 - ?
    02LCDR. Glenn, Everett Marsalis (Easy)1949
    03LCDR. Case, Gerald Frederick, USN (USNA 1940)January 1949 - April 1950
    04LCDR. Thro, John Baptiste, USN (USNA 1941)1April 1950 - 1952
    05LCDR. Collingwood, John Foster, USNApril 1954 - 1955
    06LCDR. Wyatt, Elston USN (USNA 1944)1955 - 6 July 1956
    07LCDR. Howland, Frank Stuart, USN6 July 1956 - 15 November 1957
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Navy Cross Citation for Private John J. Wantuck United States Marine Corps
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Inchon to Hungnam APD-125 & APD-127
    Personnel Account of Wantuck and Lenawee collision from Roy P. Helton Wantuck
    Newspaper articles - Death - The Fighting Wantuck, Collision, August, 1957
    News paper article "Tuscalousa News" August 25 1957 - One Missing in Collision
    USS Wantuck Collision - Korean War Documentary
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Back To the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Destroyer Escort Index Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The High-speed Transport (APD) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 26 February 2021