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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Caswell (AKA-72)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - India - November
 NHIN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Tolland Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down in 1944 as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1402) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 24 October 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 27 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS Caswell (AKA-72), 13 December 1944, LCDR. P. M. Diffley, USNR, in command
  • During World War II Caswell was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign;
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 9 April 1945
  • Decommissioned, 19 June 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 21 June 1946, for disposal
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Commercial Service
    Sold, 23 June 1947, to South Atlantic SS Line, renamed SS Southwind
    Sold in 1955 to the United States Lines
    Renamed SS American Surveyor, 18 May 1961
    Returned to the Maritime Administration, 7 June 1963, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
    Final Disposition, sold, 10 August 1973, to Northern Metal Co., (for non-transportation use) presumed scrapped
  • Caswell received one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,635 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement Officers 62 Enlisted 333
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats
    fourteen LCVPs
    eight LCMs
    Cargo Capacity 380,000 cu ft, (5,275 t.)
    Propulsion GE geared turbine drive, single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Commercial Service
    Arcturus 117k Ex-Caswell (AKA-72) (left) in commercial service as the South Atlantic SS Line freighter SS Southwind working cargo at Bremen, Germany circa late-1947/early-1948. The ship to the right is the United States Lines C-2 type freighter SS Rattler being towed to her berth. Photo is from a Bremen City promotion brochure distributed in the mid-Sixties. Gerhard Mueller=Debus
    Arcturus 345k Ex-Caswell (AKA-72) ex-SS Southwind in commercial service as SS American Surveyor underway, location and date unknown, originally copyrighted by the British ship photo collector Alex Duncan (deceased). Note the shortened masts, which enabled her to pass beneath the bridges on the way to Manchester, U.K. Gerhard Mueller=Debus
    View the Caswell (AKA-72)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 2 May 2008