USS Wantuck (APD-125) - Post World War II

Post World War II

With the war over, Wantuck embarked troops for the planned occupation of Japan and joined the United States Third Fleet on 18 August 1945. She entered Tokyo Bay on 27 August 1945 and disembarked her share of the occupation force. On 30 August 1945, she moved to the Yokosuka Naval Station where she began loading Allied prisoners of war from the hospital ship USS Benevolence (AH-13). During the first week of September 1945, she made calls at various Japanese ports embarking former Allied prisoners of war. On 7 September 1945, she transferred her passengers to destroyer USS Lansdowne (DD-486). On 9 September 1945, Wantuck took several British prisoners on board and the next day transferred them to a Royal Navy destroyer. She continued to shuttle former prisoners of war between locations in Japan until 2 October 1945, at which time she headed for the Marianas.

Wantuck arrived at Guam on 5 October 1945 and remained there until 19 October 1945 when she headed back to Yokosuka, Japan. She reached Yokosuka on 22 October 1945, but got underway again on 30 October 1945. Steaming via Guam, she arrived at Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands on 8 November 1945 but that same day headed for Rabaul. where she arrived on 9 November 1945. On 18 November 1945 she began a circuitous voyage back to the United States.

After stops at Manus, Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor, Wantuck reached San Francisco. California, on 21 December 1945.

On 3 January 1946, Wantuck entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, for an overhaul which she completed on 10 March 1946. That same day, she sailed for her new home port, San Diego. For almost a year, she operated out of San Diego, primarily conducting amphibious warfare exercises at San Clemente Island.

On 24 February 1947, Wantuck departed San Diego for a three-month voyage to the Western Pacific. Her ports of call included Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Manus, and Guam. She returned to San Diego on 19 June 1947 and resumed normal operations out of that port, which she continued until the beginning of 1948.

On 15 January 1948, Wantuck again stood out of San Diego for a voyage to the Western Pacific. After stops at Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, and Guam, she arrived in Tsingtao, China, on 15 February 1948. For the next six months, she cruised along the China coast, observing conditions during the latter stages of the Chinese Civil War, and transported Chinese Nationalist troops to various locations in support of their efforts against the Chinese Communists. On 16 August 1948, Wantuck departed Tsingtao to return to the United States. She made stops at Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor before reentering San Diego on 9 September 1948 and resumed normal United States West Coast operations.

Early in 1950, Wantuck made a round-trip voyage to Alaskan waters and back to San Diego before departing San Diego on 1 May 1950 to deploy overseas once more. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from 9 May 1950 to 12 May 1950 and then continued her voyage west. After stops in the Mariana and Philippine Islands, Wantuck arrived at Hong Kong on 7 June 1950.