USS Almaack (AKA-10) - Supporting The Invasion of Iwo Jima

Supporting The Invasion of Iwo Jima

Arriving at Guam on 8 February, Almaack commenced loading troops and cargo of the 3d Engineer Battalion, 3d Pioneer Battalion, and a replacement company, as well as vehicles, ammunition, petroleum products, rations, and water that same afternoon, bringing the operation to a completion on the following morning. She sailed for Iwo Jima on the morning of 17 February.

Almaack arrived in the maneuvering area 125 miles (201 km) southeast of Iwo Jima at 2200, 19 February, and, in company with the other ships in the task group, awaited orders. Sent in to the transport areas, the ship arrived off Iwo on 22 February, but did not unload any cargo that day or the next. Each evening during those days, the ship would retire to seaward. Due to the congested beaches, Almaack's loading was delayed until the 24th; that morning the ship put all of her boats in the water to dispatched to attack transports to disembark assault troops.

Almaack unloaded her cargo "on call" as the situation ashore demanded it, from 24 February 1945 to 3 March. On 1 March, the ship took on board shell cases from cruisers and destroyers. She put her last priority cargo item, one vehicle, on board LSM-238 late on the 3d. The attack cargo ship remained in the transport area during the night of 3 March, and retired the following night, arriving back in the transport area on the morning of the 5th. She unloaded all of the remaining vehicles and "B" rations and took on board more shell cases from cruisers and destroyers on the 6th before departing that same day (6 March) for Guam.

Almaack reached Garapan anchorage, Saipan, on the morning of 9 March, and there debarked casualties brought from Iwo; she pushed on for Apra Harbor, Guam, on the late afternoon of the following day, and reached her destination on the morning of 11 March to unload marine supplies not required at Iwo Jima. Sailing thence the following morning for the Solomons, Almaack reached Tulagi on the afternoon of the 18th, where she picked up new landing boats. Proceeding thence to Nouméa, the attack cargo ship arrived there on the 23d for liberty, repairs, and to embark elements of the Army's 81st Infantry Division.

Shifted from a combat load to a regular cargo load, Almaack sailed for the Admiralties on the morning of 3 May, and thence to the Philippines, reaching Leyte on the 16th. There the 81st Infantry Division units went ashore, and after ten days in the Philippines, Almaack sailed for Pearl Harbor on the morning of 26 May. Stopping at Pearl only briefly, the attack cargo ship sailed for San Francisco on the afternoon of 7 June, arriving on the 13th.