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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Designed by Tom Glickman, contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Calvert (APA-32)
ex
 USS Calvert (AP-65) (1942 - 1943)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Quebec - Sierra
NEQS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons






Precedence of awards is from left to right, top to bottom
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (2)
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Fourth Row - National Defense Service Medal (2)- Korean Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Taiwan Straits, Quemoy-Matsu, Vietnam, Laos)
Fifth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (2) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Fifth Row - Philippines Liberation Medal (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Crescent City Class Transport:
  • Laid down as SS Del Orleans, a Maritime Commission type (C3-Delta) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 151) for Mississippi Shipping Co., at Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 19 September 1942
  • Acquired by the Navy, 30 September 1942
  • Commissioned, 1 October 1942, as USS Calvert (AP-65), CAPT. Donald W. Loomis USN in command
  • Reclassified Attack Transport (APA-32), 1 February 1943
  • During WWII USS Calvert was initially assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East and subsequently to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Seventeen (flagship), COMO. T.B. Brittan USN (20);
    TransDiv Fifty, CAPT. R.W. Abbot USN (20) and participated in the following campaigns:

    European Campaigns     Campaign and Dates
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns    Campaign and Dates
    North African occupation
    San, French Morocco, 8 to 11 November 1942     		Gilbert Islands operation
    Makin Island, 20 November to 2 December 1943
    Sicilian occupation, Scoglitti, 9 to 15 July 1943 Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944
    Occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, 17 February to 2 March 1944
      Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 to 28 July 1944
      Tinian capture and occupation, 24 to 28 July 1944
      Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944 and 18 November 1944
      Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945

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

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    16 September to 7 November 194520 March to 10 April 1946
    2 to 4 January 19466 to 13 August 1951
    17 to 19 March 1946 

  • Decommissioned, 26 February 1947, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 18 October 1950
  • During the Korean War USS Calvert participated in the following campaigns:

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    30 November 1952     		Third Korean Winter
    1 to 4 and 12 to 19 December 1952
    31 January 1953
    13 to 15 and 21 February 1953
    14 to 19 March 1953

  • During the Vietnam War USS Calvert participated in the following campaigns:

    Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Service Medal
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Vietnam Advisory Campaign
    25 to 26 April 1961     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    25 December 1965 to 19 January 1966
    Vietnam Defense
    23 to 26 November 1965
    24 December 1965     		 

  • Decommissioned at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard San Francisco, 18 May 1966
  • Moved to Naval Supply Center, Oakland, Traffic Management School for use as a training hulk until 1976
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1966
  • USS Calvert earned eight battle stars for World War II service, two battle stars for Korean War service, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with two campaign stars for Vietnam War service
  • Sold for scrapping, 14 February 1977, to Levin Metals Corp, San Jose, CA. (PD-X-1014 dated 20 December 1976) for $191,000.00, broken up for scrapped at Levins Metals Corp ship breaking facility, Richmond, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,889 t,(lt), 14,247 t (fl)
    Length 491'
    Beam 65' 6"
    Draft 25' 8"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement
    48 officers
    510 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    92 Officers
    1,191 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 2,700 t. DWT
    non-refrigerated 130, 000 cu. ft.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    three single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Oil Capacities
    NSFO 12,925 Bbls
    Diesel 450 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    three Ships Service Generators, 350Kw, 240V. D.C.
    two Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    single propeller, 7,800shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Calvert (AP-65)
    Calvert 82k Calvert (AP-65) underway on trials near Baltimore, MD. off Sparrows Point, 30 September 1942 prior to being commissioned. Note the plain appearance of the ship as initially converted, with no raised gun positions forward, the two 3"/50 guns there being on deck, and a single level position aft for the two 3"/50 guns there. The gun on the stern is a 5"/38 dual purpose weapon.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-35762 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    USS Calvert (APA-32)
    Calvert 86k Calvert (APA-32) off Norfolk Navy Yard, 17 August 1943. As a result of the addition of two twin 40mm twin mounts in 1943, this ship received a two level structure on the bow with one 3"/50 gun (the other forward 3"/50 was deleted) and one twin 40mm mount, and acquired an even taller three level structure aft with a twin 40mm mount on top, some 20mm guns in the middle, and two 3"/50 guns on the bottom. The original 5"/38 gun remains on the stern.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-53214 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Calvert
    100303219    		 500k An LCVP carrying Japanese soldiers and Korean laborers captured during the battle for Makin Island, 21 November 1943, are huddled in the bow of the landing craft as they are being transported to USS Leonard Wood (APA-12) {No prisoners are recorded as being delivered to Calvert (APA-32) on this day; Leonard Wood (APA-12) records Japanese POW deliveries on 21 and 23 November while at anchor off the beachhead. Calvert and USS LST-31 are moored together to facilitate offloading material from Calvert to LST-31 for delivery to the beachhead. David Upton
    Calvert 106k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy    		 Stan Svec
    Calvert 48k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway at Pearl Harbor, T.H., date unknown. Earlie Scott RMC USN (Ret)
    Calvert 84k USS Calvert (APA-32) at anchor, Yokohama, Japan, 5 November 1945.
    US Navy    		 Greg Hook for his uncle Wilson J. Hill RM3/c
    Calvert 65k USS Calvert (APA-32) at Nagoya, Japan in 1953. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Calvert 177k USS Calvert (APA-32) in San Francisco Bay after a regular overhaul at San Francisco Naval Shipyard, CA., 26 February 1958.
    US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives Identifier (NAID) 7574916.    		 Robert Hurst
    Calvert 84k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway, date and location unknown. Photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships" 1958-59 Edition, courtesy Ted Stone. Robert Hurst
    Calvert 40k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway, date and location unknown,
    US Navy photo    		  
    Calvert 268k USS Calvert (APA-32) at anchor Chinhae, South Korea, 1964.
    US Navy photo    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Calvert 85k USS Calvert (APA-32) outbound to sea from San Diego, CA., date unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Calvert 78k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway off San Diego, CA., date unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Calvert
    100303220    		 209k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway, date and location unknown Nicholas Tiberio
    Calvert
    100303221    		 258k USS Calvert (APA-32) underway, date and location unknown.
    Photo @copyGeorge Barber    		 Nicholas Tiberio

    For more photos and information about USS Calvert, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • Welcome Aboard pamphlet
  • USS Calvert (APA-32)
    • Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Loomis, Donald Wood, USN (USNA 1918)1 October 1942 - 24 October 1942
    02*CAPT. Whitfield, James Walter, USN (USNA 1919) :RADM24 October 1942 - 10 January 1943AP-65
    03CAPT. Mullinix, Allen Prather, USN (USNA 1920)10 January 1943 - 9 April 1943AP-65 / APA-32
    04CAPT. Thackery, Lyman Augustus, USN (USNA 1921) :RADM9 April 1943 -21 August 1943APA-32
    05LCDR. Sweeney, Edward Joseph, USNR21 August 1943 - 5 September 1944APA-32
    06CAPT. Strong, Ronald T., USNR5 September 1944 - 27 September 1944APA-32
    07CDR. Warris, John Ford, USN (USNA 1927)27 September 1944 - 26 January 1946APA-32
    08CAPT. Reynolds, Philip Shawcross, USN (USNA 1923)26 January 1946 -26 February 1947APA-32
     Decommissioned26 February 1947 - 18 October 1950 
    09CAPT. Legwen Jr., Glenn Walker. USN (USNA 1927)18 October 1950 - 24 November 1951APA-32
    10CAPT. Robbins, Josephus Amberg, USN (USNA 1930)24 November 1951 - 18 October 1952APA-32
    11CAPT. Freiburghouse, Leonard Frederick, USN (USNA 1928) :RADM18 October 1952 - 4 August 1953APA-32
    12CAPT. Scherini, Otto Axel, USN (USNA 1932)4 August 1953 - 26 July 1954APA-32
    13CAPT. Hilles, Frederick Vantyne Holbrook, USN (USNA 1930) :RADM26 July 1954 - 12 March 1955APA-32
    14CAPT. Petersen, Adolph John, USN12 March 1955 - 6 October 1956APA-32
    15CAPT. Maddox, William Squire, USN (USNA 1934)6 October 1956 - 25 November 1957APA-32
    16CAPT. Stark, Harry Boger, USN (USNA 1936)25 November 1957 - 28 August 1958APA-32
    17CAPT. Phaler, Walter Louis, USN (USNA 1937)28 August 1958 - 7 August 1959APA-32
    18CAPT. Kaufman, William Metcalfe, USN (USNA 1936)7 August 1959 - 21 July 1960APA-32
    19CAPT. Collum Jr., William John, USN (USNA 1938)21 July 1960 - 22 February 1961APA-32
    20CDR. Durham, Harold Dean, USN (temporary)22 February 1961 - 5 April 1961APA-32
    21CAPT. Renfro, John Norton, USN (USNA 1939)5 April 1961 - 4 August 1962APA-32
    22CAPT. Merrill, David Abbott, USN (USNA 1941)4 August 1962 - 28 September 1963APA-32
    23CAPT. Hunt, Edward Revis, USN28 September 1963 - 25 September 1964APA-32
    24CAPT. Kenyon, Jack Scott, USN25 September 1964 - 28 July 1965APA-32
    25CAPT. Ward, John Gorham (Gov), USN (USNA 1944)25 July 1965 - 18 July 1966APA-32
    *Captain Whitfield was CO, USS Harry Lee AP-17, later APA-10. As the ship prepared to participate in Operation Torch (North African Landings) she suffered a major engineering casualty on 22 October 1942. Captain Whitfield, his officers, boat crews and landing craft transferred to the newly commissioned Calvert and participated in the operation.
    Courtesy CAPT. Tom Glickman USN Ret. / Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 11 March 2022