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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Thurston (AP-77)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Uniform - Lima
 NYUL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (28 May 1944) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (5)
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Service Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Thurston Class Transport:
  • Laid down, 9 December 1941, as SS Del Santos, a Maritime Commission type (C-2F) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 134) at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., for the Mississippi Shipping Co.
  • Launched, 4 April 1942
  • Delivered, 11 July 1942
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 13 September 1942
  • Commissioned USS Thurston (AP-77), 19 September 1942, CAPT. Jack E. Hurff in command
  • During World War II USS Thurston was first assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and later to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater participating in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    North African occupation
    Algeria-Morocco landings (Fedhala), 8 to 11 November 1942     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 27 February 1945
    Sicilian occupation
    Gela, 9 to 15 July 1943     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 7 to 14 April 1945
    Convoy KMF-25A, 6 November 1943  
    Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944  
    Invasion of southern France
    Baie de Pampelonne, 15 August to 25 September 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS Thurston was assigned to Occupation service from 17 to 24 May 1946
  • Decommissioned, 1 August 1946, at San Francisco, CA.,
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission the same day, name reverted to SS Del Santos
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1946
  • USS Thurston earned seven battle stars for World War II service
  • Sold by the Maritime Commission to Waterman Steamship Co. in 1948, renamed SS Chickasaw in 1949
  • Final Disposition, lost due to grounding at Santa Rosa Island off the California coast, 7 February 1962
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,185 t.(lt) 13,898 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 3"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 23'
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 48
    Enlisted 408
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 77
    Enlisted 1,229
    Largest Boom Capacity 30t.
    Armament
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 9,400 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric steam turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    Ship's Service Generators
    one Diesel-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    two turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Thurston (AP-77)
    Thurston
    092207710    		 34k
    Namesake
    Thurston - Named for two distinguished Americans from counties in Nebraska and Washington
    Nebraska - John Mellen Thurston. Born on 21 August 1847 in Montpelier, Vt, J. M. Thurston was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1869 and subsequently achieved prominence in Nebraska as an attorney, a railroad executive, and a political leader. After serving in the United States Senate from 1895 to 1901, Thurston practiced law in Washington, D.C., and in Omaha, Nebraska, until he died on 9 August 1916.
    Washington - Samuel Royal Thurston. Born in Monmouth, Maine, on 15 April 1816, S. R. Thurston moved to Burlington, Iowa, in 1845; practiced law there; and edited the Iowa Gazette. Early in 1849, he settled in Oregon and, when that territory was organized later that year, he was elected as its first delegate to the United States Congress. He took his seat on 3 December 1849 and served until 3 March 1851. While returning home from the national capital to the Northwest Pacific coast, Thurston died at sea on 9 April 1851. (Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Thurston
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34575    		 92k USS Thurston (AP-77) near the New York Navy Yard, 23 September 1942. The ship is carrying her original armament, including a 5"/51 gun on the stern. Note the full loadout of landing craft, including the many on deck and the three in the port Welin davit.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo #'s 19-N-34575, and 19-N-34572, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green and
    Robert Hurst
    Thurston
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34572    		 79k
    Thurston 27k USS Thurston (AP-77), at Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, 24 October 1942 embarking troops.
    Official US Army photo produced by US Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, 24 October 1942. Photo now in the collections of the Library of Virginia. Image No. C1:2/01/049    		 The Library of Virginia, US Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection
    Thurston 66k USS Thurston (AP-77), at Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, 9 May 1943 embarking troops. This photo shows transports and troop trains after arrival from Camp Patrick Henry. Thurston is on the north side of Pier 2, and USS Elizabeth C. Stanton (AP-69) is moored on the south side of the Pier.
    Official US Army photo produced by US Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation. Photo now in the collections of the Library of Virginia. Image No. C1:2/05/006    		 The Library of Virginia, US Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection
    Thurston
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM Photo # 19-N-78189    		 85k USS Thurston (AP-77) near the New York Navy Yard, 17 December 1944. The ship has been rearmed and now has a 40-mm twin mount on a raised platform above and just aft of the two 3"/50 guns on the bow.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM Photo #'s 19-N-78189, and 19-N-78190 US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green and
    Robert Hurst
    Thurston
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM Photo # 19-N-78190    		 86k
    Thurston 91k USS Thurston (AP-77), dressed in camouflage Measure 32/2A, off the invasion beaches at Iwo Jima, 20 February 1945. Note the numerous troops on deck, the landing craft being held at the rail by cargo booms both forward and aft where the troops could board them, and the partial loadout of landing craft remaining on deck aft and in the davits.
    US National Archives, RG-80-G. Photo # 80-G-311362, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Merchant Service Waterman Steamship Co.
    Thurston 289k Ex-USS Thurston (AP-77) in merchant service as the Waterman Steamship Co.'s SS Chickasaw under way in harbor, circa 1958, location unknown.
    Photo originally @copyThe World Ship Society.    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Thurston 80k Ex-USS Thurston (AP-77) in merchant service as the Waterman Steamship Co.'s SS Chickasaw aground at Santa Rosa Island off the California coast, February 1962.
    Photo ©Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA.    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Thurston (AP-77)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Hurff, Jack Ellett :RADM 19 September 1942 - 11 August 1943
    02CAPT. Vanasse, Roland Benjamin11 August 1943 - May 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves. Photo courtesy Bill Gonyo
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 5 April 2024