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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Golden City (AP-169)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Romeo - India
 NDRI
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 (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
La Salle Class Transport:
  • Laid down, date unknown, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under a Maritime Commission contract, at Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 28 October 1943
  • Commissioned USS Golden City (AP-169), 29 May 1944, CAPT. Charles Marvin Furlow, Jr. USN, in command
  • During WWII USS Golden City was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 29 July 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 10 January 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October, 18 November 1944     		Manila Bay-Bicol operations
    Zambales landing, 29 January 1945

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

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    9 to 18 February 19469 November to 4 December 1945

  • Decommissioned, 10 August 1946, at Seattle, WA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 October 1946
  • USS Golden City earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Merchant Service
    Sold to Waterman Steamship Corp., 11 February 1948, for $51,567
    Sold to Ocean Clippers, Inc, 20 March 1961, renamed SS Ocean Eva
    Sold to Overseas Carriers, Corp., renamed SS Overseas Eva
    Resold to Overseas Carriers, Corp., renamed SS Sapphire Etta
    Sold to Sapphire Lines, 21 January 1966
    Seized at Rotterdam in June 1967, sold in court action to 046 Corp., renamed SS Cortland
    Sold to Pan-American Tankers Corp. in July 1967
    SS Cortland was detained in Saigon from 1968 through 1973 towed to Taiwan
    Sold to D. L. Wirth, 18 September 1973
    Final Disposition, resold for scrapping to Keun Hwa Iron & Steel Enterprise, Ltd. Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,556 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 23' (lim)
    Speed 16.5 kts (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 24
    Enlisted 252
    Troop Accommodations 1,575
    Cargo Capacity 2,100 DWT
    non-refrigerated, 130,000 Cu ft.
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 10,300 Bbls
    Diesel 880 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric steam turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive 250Kw 240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Golden City (AP-169)
    Golden City 60k USS Golden City (AP-169) under way in 1944, location unknown.
    US Navy photo. Note she is painted in camouflage pattern measure 32/8T.    		 Courtesy, Chuck Ulrich, coordinator/historian AP Transport Group
    Golden City 95k USS Golden City (AP-169) under way in San Francisco Bay, in late 1945 or early 1946 returning troops from the Western Pacific to the United States, probably as part of Operation "Magic Carpet."
    US Navy photo # NH 98725 donated by Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    		US Naval Historical Center
    Golden City 107k USS Golden City (AP-169) arriving in San Francisco Bay in late 1945 or early 1946 returning troops from the Western Pacific to the United States, probably as part of Operation "Magic Carpet."
    US Navy photo
    		Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Golden City 16k USS Golden City (AP-169) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Gunter Krebs
    Merchant Service
    Golden City
    092216904    		 94k Ex-USSGolden City (AP-169) in merchant service as the Overseas Carrier Corp.'s SS Overseas Eva moored in the port of Bremen, Germany, April 1965. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Golden City (AP-169)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Furlow Jr., Charles Marvin :RADM29 May 1944 - 21 August 1945
    02CDR. Banks, Vincent James21 August 1945 - 10 August 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 Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Transport (AP) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 10 June 2022