USS Crescent City (APA-21)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | A popular nickname for New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Steel |
| Launched: | 17 February 1940 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs M. L. Pedrick |
| Christened: | Del Orleans |
| Acquired: | 9 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 10 October 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 April 1948 |
| Renamed: | TS Golden Bear II, Artship |
| Reclassified: | AP-40 to APA-21, 1 February 1943 |
| Struck: | 12 April 1946 |
| Identification: | MCV Hull Type C3-P, MCV Hull No. 49 |
| Honours and awards: |
Ten battle stars for WWII service |
| Fate: | Sold, possibly for scrap, February 2004 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Crescent City class attack transport |
| Displacement: | 8,409 tons (lt), 14,247 t.(fl) |
| Length: | 491 ft (150 m) |
| Beam: | 65 ft 6 in (19.96 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × General Electric geared drive turbine, 2 × boilers, designed shaft horsepower 7,800 |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity: | Troops: 58 Officers, 1,102 Enlisted Cargo: 140,000 cu ft (4,000 m3), 2,300 long tons (2,300 t) |
| Complement: | Officers 36, Enlisted 498 |
| Armament: | 4 × 3"/50 caliber DP gun mounts, 2 × twin 40 mm gun mounts, 2 × single 40 mm gun mounts, 14 × single 20 mm gun mounts. |
USS Crescent City (AP-40/APA-21) is a Crescent City-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship in her class.
Crescent City was named after a popular nickname for New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally named the SS Delorleans, the ship was contracted on 16 December 1938 by Maritime Commission as a Type C3 ship hull #49. The keel was laid 8 May 1939, by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point Maryland, where she was launched on 17 February 1940, and delivered to Delta Lines on 23 August 1940.
This was the third of a series of six ships designed by the Mississippi Shipping Company, as a modification of the standard C3 design, to carry both passengers and cargo between New Orleans and Buenos Aires on the so-called "Coffee Run". Twenty six staterooms accommodated 67 passengers on the shelter deck.
The US Government requisitioned the SS Delorleans on 3 June 1941. The Navy assumed control on 9 June 1941 and stripped the ship to prepare her for war duty, and she was commissioned on 10 October 1941 as the USS Crescent City. Originally classified AP-40she was converted to an attack transport at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding of Mobile, Alabama; and commissioned 10 October 1941, Commander W. C. Calhoun in command. She was reclassified APA-21, 1 February 1943.
Read more about USS Crescent City (APA-21): World War II, Postwar Service
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