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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

AP-40 / APA-21 Crescent City

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendations - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (10)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)
Crescent City Class Transport:
  • Laid down as SS Del Orleans, for Mississippi i Shipping Co., as a Maritime Commission type (C3-P) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 49) at Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard Inc., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 17 February 1940
  • Acquired by the Navy, 9 June 1941
  • Converted to for Naval service at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL.
  • Commissioned USS Crescent City (AP-40), 10 October 1941, CDR. W. C. Calhoun in command
  • During World War II Crescent City was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Reclassified Attack Transport (APA-21), 1 February 1943
  • Decommissioned, 30 April 1948, at San Francisco, CA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission in September 1946 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Loaned by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) to the California Maritime Academy in May 1971, renamed TS Golden Bear II
  • Returned to the MARAD in 1995, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Custody transferred by MARAD to Artship Foundation, Oakland CA., August 1999, renamed Artship
  • Final Disposition, sold in February 2004 for possible scrapping.
  • Crescent City was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation, and received 10 battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,409 t.(lt), 14,247 t.(fl)
    Length 491'
    Beam 65' 6"
    Draft 26'
    Speed 17 kts.
    Complement 36 Officers, 498 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations 58 Officers 1,102 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 140,000 cu. ft., 2,300 t.
    Armament
    4 single 3"/50 DP gun mounts
    2 twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    2 single 40mm AA gun mounts
    14 single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion General Electric geared turbine engine, 2 boilers, design shaft horsepower 7,800
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Crescent City (AP-40) (APA-21)
    Crescent City 92k Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation, August 1942 - Ships of the invasion force steaming out of the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area during the afternoon of 9 August 1942. Photographed from Chicago (CA-29), the view looks westward, with Guadalcanal island in the background. Crescent City (AP-40) is at the left. A Curtiss SOC "Seagull" float plane is in the foreground, on Chicago's starboard catapult.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-231855, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Crescent City 24k Crescent City (APA-21) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    Crescent City 27k Crescent City (APA-21) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Gunter Krebs
    California Maritime Academy Training Ship Golden Bear II
    Crescent City 62k ex-Crescent City (APA-21) in service as The California Maritime Academy training Ship TS Golden Bear II entering Sydney Harbour, Australia, circa 1971 to 1995. CMA Historical Archives. Submitted by Doug Peterson CMA Historical Archivist
    Artship
    Crescent City 52k ex-Crescent City (APA-21) ex-TS Golden Bear ex Artship moored pierside at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 June 2004. Sam Stokes, Hole in the Head Press
    Crescent City 65k ex-Crescent City (APA-21) ex-TS Golden Bear ex Artship moored pierside at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., circa June 2004. Steve Blanchard
    Crescent City 65k ex-Crescent City (APA-21) ex-TS Golden Bear ex Artship moored pierside at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., circa June 2004. Steve Blanchard
    View the Crescent City (APA-21)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Save the ARTSHIP
    "Crescent City court fight Last ship from Guadalcanal battles could be dismantled" San Francisco Chronicle, Monday June 14, 2004
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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 21 October 2005