Transporting Troops To The War Zone
Mintaka sailed 11 January 1944 for San Francisco whence, after embarking 1,056 troops, she sailed 2 February for the South Pacific. She reached Nouméa, New Caledonia, the 23d and began troop and cargo shuttle runs among the islands of the South Pacific. Between 27 February and 10 March she carried 1,800 troops to New Zealand and back: thence, she made a run to the New Hebrides before arriving Guadalcanal 9 April. During the next several months she maintained a busy schedule transporting fighting men and supplies to numerous American bases in Melanesia from the Admiralties to the Fijis. She carried thousands of troops to and from staging areas; on one run between the Green Islands and Guadalcanal in late May, she carried more than 1,500 soldiers.
Mintaka departed Guadalcanal 26 September; operated out of Manus, Admiralties, during much of October; and sailed in convoy 26 October for shuttle duty in the Palaus. Between 31 October and 30 November she operated from Kossol Passage south to Peleliu discharging troops and cargo. After embarking 994 veterans of the Palaus' campaign, she returned to Guadalcanal 10 December and resumed shuttle runs among the Solomons and the Bismarck Archipelago. With 968 Seabees embarked, she departed Guadalcanal 26 April 1945 bound for Okinawa.
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