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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Dutchess (APA-98)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Victor - Quebec
NZVQ

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal

Windsor Class Attack Transport:

Laid down, date unknown, as a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1676) at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrow Point Shipyard, Sparrow Point, MD.

Launched, 26 August 1944

Commissioned USS Dutchess (APA-98), 4 November 1944, CDR. Aubrey B. Leggett USNR in command

During World War II USS Dutchess was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
TransRon Eighteen, COMO. J.G. Moyer USN (14);
TransDiv Fifty-Three, CAPT. W.N. Thornton USN and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 8 May 1945

Following World War II USS Dutchess was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 23 September to 9 November 1945

Decommissioned, 4 April 1946, at Norfolk, VA.

Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 5 April 1946, to the James River Reserve Fleet , Lee Hall, VA., for disposal

Struck from the Naval Register, 14 April 1946

USS Dutchess earned one battle star for World War II service

Merchant Service

Towed by Moran towing and Transportation Co.(General Agency Agreement), 13 November 1947, from Lee Hall to Brooklyn, N.Y.

Delivered to Bethlehem Steel Brooklyn 56th Street Shipyard, 15 November 1947, for reconversion for merchant service

Sold for merchant service to American Export Lines, 22 September 1948, renamed SS Excalibur

Owner name changed to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, 8 June 1964

Resold to C. Y. Tung, Hong Kong, 17 September 1965, renamed SS Oriental Jade, reflagged Liberian

Final Disposition, scrapped in 1974

Specifications:
Displacement 7,950 t.(lt), 13,143 t.(fl)
Length 473' 1"
Beam 66'
Draft 25'
Speed 18.6 kts.

Complement

42 Officers

434 Enlisted

Troop Accommodations

94 Officers

1,463 Enlisted

Cargo Capacity non-refrigerated 150,000 Cu. ft., 1,600DWT.
Armament

two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

two twin 20mm AA gun mounts

eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 12,330 Bbls

Diesel 675 Bbls

Propulsion

one Bethlehem Shipbuilding geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°

double Falk Main Reduction Gears

three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller, 8,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Dutchess (APA-98)
	76k	*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** probably photographed in Chesapeake Bay upon completion of conversion in November 1944. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-73675, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Mike Green
	40k	*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** anchored, date and location unknown.	Submitted by Mrs. Linda Wichmann Scriven for her father H.S. Wichmann USS Dutchess
	50k	*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** anchored, 1945, location unknown.	Henry Wristen USS Dutchess
100309911	210k	USS Duchess (APA-98) in convoy lined up in formation followed by at least six additional amphibious attack transports and attack cargo ships, 6 February 1945, for antiaircraft firing practice while enroute to the Iwo Jima invasion, 6 February 1945. US Navy photo by US Navy photographer Wallace Page	Dave Way, Historian / Artifact Collections, Pacific Battleship Center \| National Museum of the Surface Navy at the Battleship IOWA
	142k	Navy "Smoker" aboard *USS Dutchess* (APA-98)**, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
	168k	*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** arriving in port with men crowding her decks, probably while bringing troops home from the Pacific war zone circa late 1945. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 78561. Courtesy of James Russel1.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
Merchant Service USA American Export Lines / Hong Kong Oriental Overseas Container Line Ltd.
	560k	Ex-*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** in merchant service as the American Export Liner SS Excalibur, circa mid-1950s-early-1960s, location unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	506k	American Export Liner SS Excalibur, underway, circa mid-1950s-early-1960s, location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	46k	Ex-*USS Dutchess* (APA-98)** in merchant service as Orient Overseas Line's SS Oriental Jade, date and location unknown.
	81k	SS Oriental Jade in merchant service as the C. Y. Tung Lines cargo vessel, moored pierside at Yokohama, Japan, 17 November 1973. Note the "added-on" bow portion.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	100k	SS Oriental Jade advertisement.	Tommy Trampp

USS Dutchess (APA-98)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Leggett, Aubrey Bartram, USNR	4 November 1944 - 6 March 1946
02	LCDR. Stevenson, Raymond, USNR	6 March 1946 - 2 April 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

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 13 May 2022