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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Rankin (LKA-103)
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 USS Rankin (AKA-103) (1945 - 1969)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Papa - Yankee
 NEPY
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Citrus Delta
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (Cuba) - China Service Medal (extended)
Third Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Fourth Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia and Europe clasps) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 1-Vietnam)
Tolland Class Amphibious Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 31 October 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1702), at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 22 December 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 25 January 1945, from the Maritime Commission and ferried to her conversion yard at Charleston, S.C.
  • Commissioned USS Rankin (AKA-103), 25 February 1945, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., LCDR. Thomas D. Price in command
  • During World War II USS Rankin was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater;
    TransRon Twenty-Three, COMO. A. S. Witherspoon;
    TransDiv Sixty-Nine CAPT. P. R. Glutting USN (16) and participated in the following campaign:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 11 to 28 June 1945

  • After World War II USS Rankin was assigned to Occupation and China service for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    Asia - 18 September to 3 November 194528 October 1946 to 5 January 1947
    Asia - 22 September to 27 October 1946 
    Europe - 20 January to 9 May 1953 

  • Decommissioned, 21 May 1947, at San Francisco, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 22 March 1952, at Todd Shipyard, Alameda, CA., CAPT. Bernard H. Meyers, in command
  • Redesignated (LKA-103), 1 January 1969
  • Decommissioned, 11 May 1971, at Little Creek, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 January 1977
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration
  • Final Disposition, sunk as an artificial reef 6 miles off Stuart Fl. in 1988. Laying on her starboard side at a depth of 130 feet
  • USS Rankin received one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,635 t.(lt) 14,160 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 38
    Enlisted 387
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats
    fourteen LCVP
    eight LCM
    Largest Boom Capacity 35 t.
    Cargo Capacity 5,275 DWT
    non-refrigerated 380,000 cu ft
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 10,425 bbls
    Diesel 805 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    one propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Rankin 136k USS Rankin (AKA-103) underway on the Cooper River near Charleston Navy Yard, 2 March 1945 Note Cooper River Bridge.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-78669, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    Rankin 136k USS Rankin (AKA-103), date and location unknown.  
    Rankin 33k USS Rankin (AKA-103) underway, March 1945. Louis F. Sander
    Rankin 51k USS Rankin (AKA-103) probably arriving at San Francisco, 25 November 1945 from the Far East with returning American soldiers and sailors. Tommy Trampp
    Rankin 475k Amidships plan view of USS Rankin (AKA-103) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 23 July 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 2628-46, 7/23/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Rankin 339k Amidships looking aft plan view of USS Rankin (AKA-103) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 23 July 1946. Photo taken from USS Meriwether (APA-203) which is inboard of Rankin.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 2629-46, 7/23/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Rankin 312k Amidships looking forward plan view of USS Rankin (AKA-103) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 23 July 1946. Photo taken from USS Meriwether (APA-203) which is inboard of Rankin.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 2630-46, 7/23/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Rankin 80k USS Rankin (AKA-103) underway, circa 1953. Louis F. Sander
    Courtesy CDR Peter A. Trinca, USN (Ret.)
    USS Rankin, 1952-53 Ops Officer
    Rankin 54k USS Rankin (AKA-103), September 1961, New York. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 62k USS Rankin (AKA-103), September 1961, New York. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 41k USS Rankin (AKA-103), September 1961, New York. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 67k USS Rankin (AKA-103), September 1961, New York. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 109k USS Rankin (AKA-103), July-August 1964, Norfolk, VA
    Note USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) in background.    		 © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 42k USS Rankin (AKA-103), July-August 1964, Norfolk, VA. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 105k USS Rankin (AKA-103), July-August 1964, Norfolk, VA. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rankin 77k USS Rankin (AKA-103) underway, circa 1968, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Louis F. Sander
    Rankin 123k USS Rankin (AKA-103) underway date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo by David Hodurski.    		 Robert Hurst

    For more photos and information about USS Rankin, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • USS Rankin (AKA-103)
  • Miscellaneous
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA/LKA) Photo Index
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    Last Updated 12 April 2013