USS Yancey (AKA-93) - Post War

Post War

Yancey's squadron departed on 4 September 1945 and steamed via Leyte Gulf to Zamboanga. There, they commenced loading elements of the Army's 41st Infantry Division from 16 to 18 September. Yancey and her sisters shifted soon thereafter to Bugo, Mindanao, where she picked up Army LCMs. After TG 54.28 had assembled in Leyte Gulf on 21 September, the group—which included Yancey—sailed for Japan's Inland Sea.

Due to minesweeping difficulties, however, the landings scheduled for the Kure–Hiroshima area were postponed; and the task group sailed instead for Buckner Bay, Okinawa. On 28 September, the ship put to sea to evade another typhoon. On 1 October, she returned and anchored in Buckner Bay. Two days later, Yancey again headed for Japanese waters and entered Bungo Suido on the 5th, beginning the long, difficult passage up the Inland Sea along the channel swept through the minefields. The next morning—after spending the night anchored in the cleared channel—Yancey headed for Hiro Wan, where the landings were made. The ship completed her unloading in 48 hours. On 9 October, she was detached from TransRon 16 and reported to CinCPac for assignment. The following day, Yancey rode out a third typhoon with 130 fathoms (240 m) of chain on deck, a second anchor ready to go, and steam at the throttle.

The attack cargo ship, remaining behind when the rest of her squadron was sent back to the United States on 11 October, headed instead to Haiphong, French Indochina to embark Chinese troops. After an 11-day delay, 1,027 officers and men of the 471st Regiment, 62nd Chinese Army—and one interpreter—boarded the American vessel for passage to Takao, Formosa. After arrival, the Chinese troops had all been offloaded by 17:00 on 17 November. After sailing to Manila, Yancey received orders to proceed to the United States on 25 November, one year to the day she had sailed from San Francisco. Yancey took on a capacity load of Army and Navy men returning to the United States for discharge and departed Manila harbor on 27 November. During the voyage, she flew a 310-foot (94 m) "homeward-bound pennant" adorned with 27 stars.

After a stop at Pearl Harbor for boiler repairs and to offload her Army passengers, Yancey sailed for Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, reaching there on the last day of the year; she was the last ship to transit the Panama Canal in 1945. On 6 January 1946, Yancey cleared Cristobal, Canal Zone, bound for Louisiana. After a brief stop at New Orleans, the attack cargo ship proceeded on, via Jacksonville, Florida, to Norfolk, where she arrived on 29 January. Less than a month later, on 27 February, Yancey sailed farther north and reached the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard the following day.

Over the next few months, Yancey underwent a regular overhaul there and then operated off the eastern seaboard and into the western Atlantic. During that time, she called at Bayonne, New Jersey; Bermuda; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Balboa, Canal Zone; Jacksonville, Florida; and made return calls at Norfolk, Bayonne, and Bermuda. In addition, the ship visited the New York Naval Shipyard and Davisville, Rhode Island, before being assigned tentatively to TF 68 effective on 9 November.