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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AP-82 / APA-37 Cavalier



Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Charlie - Yankee
 NKCY
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (4)
Fourth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Vietnam) - Vietnam Service Medal (5) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (4)
Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Individual Awards

Purple Heart (1 killed 22 wounded in action, 9 January 1945, 50 wounded in action 30 January 1945)

USS Cavalier (AP-37) was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II and by US Navy crews after World War II
Bayfield Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 10 December 1942, as a Maritime Commission type (C-3-S-A2) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 276), at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, CA.
  • Assigned to the Navy as Transport (AP-82)
  • Reclassified Attack Transport (APA-37), 1 February 1943
  • Launched, 15 March 1943
  • Placed in reduced Commission, 19 July 1943, for transit to her conversion yard at Hoboken, N.J.
  • Decommissioned at Hoboken and fitted out as an Attack Transport at Bethlehem Steel Co.
  • Recommissioned USS Cavalier (APA-37), 16 January 1944, CAPT. R. T. McElliott, USCG, in command
  • During World War II Cavalier was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 16 to 26 January 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945
    Tinian capture and occupation
    24 to 28 July 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, Dulag, 20 to 23 October 1944
    Manila Bay - Bicol operation
    30 January 1945     		.

  • During the Korean War Cavalier participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    18 to 22 July 1950
  • 3 to 12 September 1950
    8 to 31 October 1950
    		• UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    5 August 1951
    Inchon Landing
    13 to 17 September 1950     		Second Korean Winter
    1 to 7 December 1951
    3 to 4 February 1952

  • During the Vietnam War Cavalier participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    27 March to 1 April 1966
    10 to 30 June 1966     		Tet Counteroffensive 30 January to 5 February 1968
    4 to 5 March 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase II 1 July to 6 August 1966 Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase IV
    1 to 10 May 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase III
    19 to 21 and 25 to 29 January 1968     		.

  • Decommissioned in 1960
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1969
  • Cavalier received five battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service and five campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,100 t.(lt), 16,100 t.(fl)
    Length 492' 6"
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 26' 6"
    Speed 18 kts.
    Complement 51 officers, 524 Enlisted
    Flag Accommodation 43 Officers, 108 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodation 80 Officers, 1,146 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 200,000 cu. ft. 4,700 t.
    Boats
    twelve LCVPs
    four LCMs (Mk-6)
    three LCP(L)s (MK-IV)
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, one fore and one aft
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Combustion Engineering D-type boilers
    one propeller
    Design shaft horsepower 8,500
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Cavalier 141k Cavalier (APA-37) at anchor, date and location unknown. She is decked out in camouflage Measure 32 Design 3D.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Cavalier 88k Cavalier (APA-37) underway off Hong Kong, BCC, 1959 Photo by Russell Cole ex-ET2 USN
    Cavalier 83k Cavalier (APA-37) at anchor in Hong Kong, BCC, harbor, 1959 Photo by Russell Cole ex-ET2 USN
    Cavalier 117k Cavalier (APA-37) moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego, 5 February 1966 © Richard Leonhardt
    Cavalier 124k Cavalier (APA-37) underway, off San Diego, date unknown. © George B Barber, Marine Photo and Publishing Co. San Diego CA.
    Copies of this photo are available from Marine Photo and Publishing Co.
    Contributed by Tom Gonzales
    View the Cavalier (APA-37)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Cavalier (APA-37)
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - USS Cavalier AP-82
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 3 August 2007