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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Braxton (APA-138)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Oscar - Tango
 NDOT
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Haskell Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 29 August 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (VC2-S-AP5) hull under Maritime Commission contract MCV hull 54) at California Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, CA.
  • Launched, 3 November 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission, 28 December 1944
  • Commissioned USS Braxton (APA-138), 29 December 1944, at Terminal Island, San Pedro, CA., CDR. William A. Bray, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Braxton was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Twenty-four, COMO. E. L. Short;
    TransDiv Seventy-one., CAPT. W. P. Davis USN (17)
  • Following World War II USS Braxton was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 5 to 8 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 27 June 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 29 June 1946, for lay up the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Berth S-21, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 July 1946
  • Withdrawn from the James River Reserve Fleet, 13 June 1955 to 6 October 1955, to South Atlantic Steamship Co. (Repair Program) General Agency Agreement
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping 9 April 1973 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., New York City, N.Y. (PD-X-956 dated 5 March 1973) for $111,560.00, withdrawn from the James River Reserve Fleet, 11 July 1973 to River Development Corp., Kearny, N.J.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,873 t.(lt) 14,837 t.(fl)
    Length 455'
    Beam 62'
    Draft 24'
    Speed 17.7 kts.
    Complement
    56 Officers
    480 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    86 Officers
    1,475 Enlisted
    Largest Boom Capacity 35 t.
    Cargo Capacity 2,900 DWT
    non-refrigerated 150,000 Cu ft
    Boats
    two LCMs
    one open LCPL
    one covered LCPL (Captain's Gig)
    two LCPRs
    eighteen LCVPs
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual-purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    one quad 40mm AA gun mount
    ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 7,780 Bbls
    Diesel 970 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Joshua-Hendy geared turbine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 465 psi 750°
    double Joshua-Hendy Main Reduction Gears
    three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 8,500 shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Braxton 27k Braxton (APA-138) at anchor , 18 December 1944, off San Pedro, CA., ten days prior to acquisition by the US Navy.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-293951.    		 Robert Hurst
    Braxton 48k USS Braxton (APA-138) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Russ Padden
    Braxton 275k USS Braxton (APA-138) fire in Hold No.4, five miles off Oceanside, CA., probably in early 1945 during a training exercise. Note Executive Officer in his dress khaki uniform. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 257k USS Braxton (APA-138) CDR. Earl W. Glines and Mrs. Glines dining aboard ship, 1945. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 127k USS Braxton (APA-138) mascot "Blackie", renamed "Truman" after FDR died. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 86k USS Braxton (APA-138) passengers, including the ships' first group of WAVES for transit from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, 1945. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 110k USS Braxton (APA-138) WAVE and other passengers put on a show during voyage from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, 1945. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 301k Japanese Harbor Pilot LT. Tamaki coming on board USS Braxton 29 August 1945, having transfered via bosun-s chair from USS Heywood L. Edwards (DD-663) in Sagami Wan, Honshu, to pilot Braxton into Yokosuka harbor on 30 August 1945. Robert Hurst
    Braxton
    100313801     		90k USS Braxton (APA-138) at anchor in Tokyo Bay, 30 August 1945.
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Photo-Russ Padden
    Caption-Matt W Zeigler
    Braxton 26k CDR. Earl W. Glines USS Braxton (APA-138) Commanding Officer, listens as LT. Tamaki points out the way through Yokosuka harbor, 30 August 1945. USS Braxton was the first transport to enter Yokosuka harbor.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-338912    		 Robert Hurst
    Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 386k
    Braxton 68k Marines from USS Braxton (APA-138) landing on the beach at Yokosuka, 30 August 1945. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    Braxton 275k
    Braxton
    100313803    		 191k USS Braxton (APA-138) at anchor off Nagasaki, Japan, 23 October 1945, while landing occupation troops in that port.
    Caption on photo probably mislabeled as Braxton landed first troops at Nagaski 30 August 1945. This was the ships third trip to Japan to land occupation forces.     		Matt W Zeigler and
    Kelland Bailey for his grandfather Gerald "Spider" Smalley USS Braxton
    Braxton 258k USS Braxton (APA-138) at anchor with with self-propelled covered lighter YF-883 alongside, circa 1945-46, possibly San Diego or San Pedro CA. Brian Miller
    Braxton
    100313817    		 223k USS Braxton (APA-138) crew photo, 3 March 1946, location unknown. Matt W Zeigler
    Braxton 240k At San Pedro, 9 April 1946, USS LCI(L)-1017 came alongside USS Braxton (APA-138) and transferred 8 German officers, 154 enlisted men, and 2 prisoners, the remaining crewmen of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen (IX-300), a war prize that had been brought to the United States from the Baltic. Braxton sailed that day for Staten Island New York where she arrived on 23 April to embark 1,492 U.S. Army enlisted men and, with the 164 former Prinz Eugen crewmen still on board, sailed for Germany on 3 May 1946, reaching Bremerhaven on the morning of 10 May 1946. Douglas Gritzinger for his father Donald Gritzinger USS Braxton
    USS Braxton (APA-138)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Bray, William Allen, USNR29 December 1944 - 15 February 1945
    02CDR/CAPT. Glines, Earl William, USNR25 February 1945 - 27 June 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
    Action Report - Landing of Occupation Forces, Nagasaki Japan, September 1945
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 19 January 2024