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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Roper (APD-20)
ex
 USS Roper (DD-147) (1920 - 1943)
 USS Roper (Destroyer #147) (1919 - 1920)


International Radio Call Signs

USS Roper (Destroyer No. 147/DD-147)
1919 International Radio Call Sign
Nan - Easy - Rush - Xray
 NERX
USS Roper (APD-20)
1943 International Radio Call Sign
Nan - How - Oboe - Queen
 NHOQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Defense Service Medal (with bronze star in lieu of Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (2) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Wickes Class Destroyer:
  • Laid down, 19 March 1918, at William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Launched, 17 August 1918
  • Commissioned USS Roper (Destroyer No. 147), 15 February 1919, CDR. Abram Claude USN in command
  • Designated (DD-147), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 14 December 1922, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 18 March 1930
  • Converted to a High-speed Transport at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.
  • Redesignated (APD-20), 20 October 1943
  • During World War II USS Roper participated in the following campaigns:

    American Campaign
    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    ASW Assessment - (Sinking U-85)
    14 April 1942     		West Coast of Italy operations
    17 June 1943     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    1 April to 6 June 1945
      Invasion of Southern France
    14 August to 25 September 1944     		 

  • While assigned to Commander South Pacific Force and South Pacific Area USS Roper came under the command of TransDiv Thirteen
  • While assigned to Commander Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet USS Roper came under the command of TransDiv One Hundred-Two, CDR. J. N. Hughes USN (31)
  • Decommissioned, 15 September 1945, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 11 October 1945
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping to The Learner Co. Oakland, CA.
  • USS Roper earned four battle stars during World War II
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,060 t.(lt) 1,600 t.(fl)
    Length 314' 5"
    Beam 30' 6"
    Draft 8' 6"
    Speed 28.7 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 8
    Enlisted 98
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 3
    Enlisted 144
    Boats 4 LCP(L) landing craft
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    five single 20mm AA gun mounts
    one depth charge track
    four depth charge projectors
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 2,380 Bbls
    Diesel 55 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two New York Shipbuilding Parsons-type turbines
    two White Forester boilers, 250psi Sat°
    single De Laval Main Reduction Gears
    two 60Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    twin propellers, 26,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Roper 139k USS Roper (APD-20) is shown newly converted to a high speed transport on 21 November 1943 off U.S. Navy YardCharleston. Both forward stacks and their boilers have been removed for troop carrying capability. The landing craft are LCP(L)s and are used for personnel only, as her cargo carrying capacity is small.
    US Navy photo    		  
    Roper
    100402005    		 382k Starboard broadside view of USS Roper (APD-20) off U.S Navy Yard, Charlestpm. S.C., 21 November 1943.
    U.S. Navy Yard Charleston photo # 11-21-43-3     		Aryeh Wetherhorn
    Roper
    100402006    		 446k Starboard aerial view of USS Roper (APD-20) underway, date and location unknown.
    U.S. Navy photo     		Aryeh Wetherhorn
    Roper
    100402001    		 228k USS Roper (APD-20) at sea off the Atlantic Coast of the United States, 4 February 1944.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-215524 a US Navy BLIMPRON Fourteen (ZP-14) photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Rick Davis
    Roper 131k High-speed Transports (APD) at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, in late 1944. The APDs present, in center, are: USS Greene (APD-36) -- closest to camera; USS Osmond Ingram (APD-35) -- next inboard; USS Barry (APD-29); USS Roper (APD-20); and USS Tattnall (APD 19). At the extreme right is Hilary P. Jones (DD 427). This photograph was dated January 1945, but was taken at least a month earlier. Note old fort in the background.
    US Navy photo # 80-G-302954, now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Greene 182k USS Roper (APD-20) showing damage by suicide plane attack, 26 May 1945.
    Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 66192, courtesy Admiral H. W. Hill.    		 Mike Green
    USS Roper (DD-147 / APD-20)
    Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. DeLong, Winfield Fox, USNR30 September 1943 - 5 January 1944
    02LCDR. Carter, Ulysses B., USNR5 January 1944 - 11 July 1945
    03LT. Steer Jr., Alfred Grainger, USNR11 July 1945 - 15 September 1945
    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
    "The Green Dragons" Four-stack APD destroyer-transports in World War Two
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Destroyer (DD) Index Back To USS Roper DD-147 Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The High-speed Transport (APD) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 November 2024