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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Warren (APA-53)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Uniform - Golf
NKUG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)


Sumter Class Attack Transport
  • Laid down, 19 April 1942, as SS Jean Lafitte, a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-E1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 415), at Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL.
  • Launched, 7 September 1942
  • Assigned to the Navy as a Naval Transport (AP-98) and renamed Warren
  • Reclassified as Attack Transport (APA-53), 1 February 1943
  • Acquired by the Navy and placed in partial commission,19 February 1943, for transit to her conversion yard, CDR. William A. McHale USNR (APA Ferry Crew #5) in command
  • Decommissioned, 10 March 1943, at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Baltimore, MD. for fitting out as an Attack Transport
  • Converted to an Attack Transport at Key Highway Plant, Bethlehem Steel Corp., Baltimore MD.
  • Recommissioned USS Warren (APA-53), 2 August 1943, CDR. William A. McHale USNR in command
  • During WWII USS Warren was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Twelve, COMO. H.B. Knowles USN (17);
    TransDiv Thirty-Six, CAPT. G.W. Johnson USN (18) and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (Roi and Namur), 31 January to 8 February 1944
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 16 to 22 October and 14 November 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 20 to 25 July 1944
    Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 2 to 15 January 1945
    Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 5 September to 14 October 1944
     

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

    Navy Occupation Service Medal

    China Service Medal (extended)
    13 to 29 September 19452 to 11 October 1945
     22 October to 16 November 1945

  • Decommissioned, 14 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946
  • USS Warren earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission at Mobile, AL, 1 August 1946 for disposal
  • Merchant History
    Sold to Waterman Steamship Co., 10 February 1947, for $957,818.00, renamed SS Arizpa
    Ownership passed to Waterman Airlines, 5 May 1949
    Converted to a container vessel for Sea-Land Service, 13 May 1965
    Operated by Litton Industries Leasing Corp, Wilmington, DE., 1966 through 1976
    Operated by Reynolds Leasing Corp, Wilmington, DE., 1976 through 1979,
    Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 September 1977, scrapped at Brownsville, TX.

    Specifications:
    Displacement 13,910 t.(fl)
    Length 468' 9"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 23' 3"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    38 Officers
    619 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    93 Officers
    1,400 Enlisted
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 1,300 DWT
    non-refrigerated 170,000 cu. ft.
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,575 Bbls
    Diesel 750 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    three turbo-drive Ship's Service Generators, 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Warren (APA-53)
    Warren 18k
    Namesake

    Joseph Warren—born on 11 June 1741 at Roxbury, Mass.—graduated with distinction from Harvard College in 1759. After a year as headmaster of the Roxbury Grammar School, he entered the medical profession and later practiced as a physician in Boston. There, he became interested in politics and formed an early association with the firebrand Samuel Adams. As the break in relations between the colonies and Great Britain approached, Warren abandoned his medical practice to enter military service. While still in Boston, he dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere on their famous nocturnal rides to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of approaching British troops on 18 April 1775. Elected a major general by the provincial congress on 14 June, Warren went out to Bunker Hill to look over the defenses shortly before the British attack on the afternoon of 17 June 1775. Although he consistently refused to take command, claiming that he would take part in the battle only as a volunteer, Warren eventually tried to exert leadership in rallying the colonial militia at Breed's Hill. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed by a British soldier while engaged in the attempt. (US Naval Historical Center) Image from: American Revolution.com
    Bill Gonyo
    Warren 48k USS Warren (APA-53) under way, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Warren 339k USS Warren (APA-53) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Dan Callahan
    Warren 64k USS Warren (APA-53) at Hampton Roads, 23 August 1943, her decks crowded with a landing craft and antiaircraft guns.
    US National Archives photo # (80-G-78655, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Warren
    100305310
    253k USS Warren (APA-53) flying a "Homeward Bound Pennant" as she enters San Francisco Bay, 17 December 1945. Note the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance aft of the ship and all the troops topside.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 78160
    Darryl Baker
    Merchant Service Waterman SS Corp. Sea-Land Services
    Warren 626k Ex-USS Warren (APA-53) (far left) in merchant service as the Waterman Lines SS Arizpa working cargo at Bremen, Germany, c. 1957 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Warren 101k SS Arizpa on the Weser River, approaching Bremen, Germany, March 1962. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Warren 467k SS Arizpa in Waterman Steam Ship Co. colors, moored in a US Gulf port., date unknown.
    Originally copyrighted by Alex Duncan
    Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Warren 95k Waterman SS Co.'s SS Arizpa moored, probably in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, date unknown. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Warren 68k SS Arizpa in a US port after being reconfigured as a containership flying the Sea-Land Service colors, date unknown. Gerhard Mueller-Debus

    USS Warren (APA-53)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
     CDR. McHale, William Alfred, USNR (APA Ferry Crew #5)19 February 1943 - 10 March 1943
     Decommissioned10 March 1943 - 2 August 1943
    01CDR. McHale, William Alfred, USNR2 August 1943 - 30 October 1944
    02CDR. Stokes, Elmer Sydney30 October 1944 - 14 March 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 Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Transport (AP) Photo Index Back To The Attack Transport (APA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 25 March 2022