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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Cavalier (APA-37)



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
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. Raymond T. McElliott, USCG, in command
  • During World War II USS Cavalier was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Fourteen (flagship), COMO. D.L. Ryan USN (16) ;
    TransDiv Forty and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 16 June to 28 July 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 10 January 1945
    Tinian capture and occupation
    24 to 28 July 1944     		Manila Bay - Bicol operation
    Zambles-Subic Bay, 29 January 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, Dulag, 20 and 18 November 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS Cavalier was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    19 April to 25 June 195023 May 1946 to 7 April 1947
     30 April to 14 December 1948
     28 December 1951 to 22 January 1952

  • During the Korean War USS 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 USS 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 1968
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 October 1968
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 15 September 1969, to Levin Metals Corp.
  • USS 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 18.4 kts (lim)
    Complement
    Officers 51
    Enlisted 472
    Flag Accommodation
    Officers 43
    Enlisted 108
    Troop Accommodation
    Officers 76
    Enlisted 1,489
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 200,000 Cu. ft. 4,700DWT
    Boats
    twelve LCVPs
    four LCMs (Mk-6)
    three LCP(L)s (MK-IV)
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts, one fore and one aft
    two quad 1.1" gun mounts, aft port and starboard, replaced by two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,510 Bbls
    Diesel 750 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Combustion Engineering D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive 250Kw 240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    one propeller 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Cavalier 141k USS Cavalier (APA-37) at anchor, date and location unknown. She is decked out in camouflage Measure 32 Design 3D.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Cavalier 686k USS Cavalier (APA-37) departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 25 June 1957. USS Los Angeles (CA 135) is astern of Cavalier at the finger pier in the shipyard.
    File name: APA 37 34897-6-57, Navy Photo, 6/25/57    		 Darryl Baker
    Cavalier 180k USS Cavalier (APA-37) anchored at Yokosuke, Japan in the summer of 1957. Photo by John Hughes, submitted by Derick Hartshorn
    Cavalier 88k USS Cavalier (APA-37) underway off Hong Kong, BCC, 1959 Photo by Russell Cole ex-ET2 USN
    Cavalier 83k USS Cavalier (APA-37) at anchor in Hong Kong, BCC, harbor, 1959 Photo by Russell Cole ex-ET2 USN
    Currituck 199k USS Ajax (AR-6) with; USS Cavalier (APA-37), USS Currituck (AV-7) and USS Boyd (DD-544) alongside at Naval Station Sasebo, Japan, circa 1961-62.
    US Navy photos from the collection of CDR. R.F. Dresel USN, USS Currituck    		 Suzanne D. Simpson
    Cavalier 117k USS Cavalier (APA-37) moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego, 5 February 1966 © Richard Leonhardt
    Cavalier 124k USS 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

    For more photos and information about USS Cavalier, see:
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Transport (AP) Photo Index Back To The Attack Transport (APA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 7 March 2013