Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.


NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS APc-15


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Charlie - India - Mike
NCIM
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 27 December 1943)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal

Personal Awards

Navy Cross - LTjg. Kemper Goffigon III USNR, Silver Star- SM2/c Borneman, Purple Heart - 2 KIA, MoMM2/c Siek, SK2/c Anderson, WIA 10
APc-1 Class Small Coastal Transport:
  • Originally planned as Coastal Minesweeper AMc-155
  • Laid down, 29 April 1942, at Camden Ship Building and Marineway, Camden, ME.
  • Launched, 8 July 1942
  • Commissioned USS APc-15, 27 October 1942, LTjg. Kemper Goffigon III USNR in command
  • During World War II USS APc-15 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Arawe, New Britain, 17 to 18 and 25 to 26 December 1943
  • Decommissioned, 19 March 1946 at Seattle, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 March 1946
  • USS APc-15 earned one battle star for World War II service
    Commercial Service
  • Sold, 13 January 1947, to Harold A. Jones principal of Vancouver Tug Boat Co., Vancouver BC., reflagged Canada, named Gulf Trader
  • In 1947-1948 owned by Vancouver Freighting Co. Ltd, Vancouver BC.
  • Renamed La Belle II in 1948
  • In 1961 she was owned by Ronald Greene (Capital Iron & Metals Co.), Victoria BC.
  • In 1961 she was owned by Westin Harold Parry, Burnaby BC., renamed Black Trader
  • In 1961-1963 she was owned by William Smith (MO), Victoria BC.
  • In 1963-1967 she was owned by Cyril Gardner (MO), Vancouver BC.
  • In 1966-1973 she was owned by Francis Millerd & Co., West Vancouver BC.
  • In 1974-1998 she was owned by Ronald Y. McMilian (MO) Richmond BC.
  • Black Trader she was seen in use as a live aboard in the Fraser River delta area up until the mid 1990s
  • Final Disposition, reported to have sank in a Fraser River Slough in 1998 after capsizing (no record of this source of this is presently available)
    *Spirce: The Nauticapedia
    Specifications:
    Displacement 100 t.(lt) 258 t.(fl)
    Length 103' 3"
    Beam 21' 3"
    Draft 9' 3"
    Speed 10kts.
    Complement
    Officers 3
    Enlisted 22
    Troop Capacity 66
    Largest Boom Capacity 3 t.
    Armament
    four single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 145 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Motors 8-268A Diesel engine
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    one propeller, 400shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS APc-15
    APc-15 120k USS APc-15 underway during builder's trials off Camden, ME. 6 October 1942. She is carrying only two 20mm guns on the bridge, part of the original design for the class. Two additional 20mm AA single gun mounts were added, one on a platform on the bow and one on the after end of the superstructure.
    US Navy photo # 19-N-38017 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives RG-19-LCM.
    Tom De Mott Jr. and
    Shipscribe web site
    APc-15 96k USS APc-15 under way wearing an early green camouflage scheme that would date this photo to be about mid 1943.
    NARA Photo 80-G-52340, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Tracy White
    Commercial Service
    APc-15
    092301503
    26k La Belle (ex-USS APC-15) underway, date and location unknown.
    The Nauticapedia - La Belle, City of Vancouver Archives, AM782-6, Neg #514;
    John Spivey
    APc-15
    092301504
    51k Hulk of sunken ex-La Belle (ex-USS APC-15) in Deas Slough, British Columbia., date unknown Photos by Robert Daggitt
    APc-15
    092301505
    78k
    APc-15
    092301506
    53k

    There is no DANFS history available for USS APc-15 at Navsource
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. Goffigon III, Kemper, USNR27 October 1942 - December 1944
    02LT. Weiner, Matthew, USNRDecember 1944 - 5 March 1945
    03LTjg. Minteer, William Bruce, USNR5 March 1945 - December 1945
    04LTjg. Butler, Charles M., USNRDecember 1945 - 19 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The (Small) Coastal Transport (APc) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 September 2023