Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Fremont (LPA-44)
ex
 USS Fremont (APA-44) (1943 - 1969)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Golf - Romeo
 NKGR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (Leyte)
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" (2) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (Cuba) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia or Europe clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Fourth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Lebanon)- Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts (7 WIA, 24 October 1944)
Bayfield Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down (date unknown) as SS Sea Corsair, a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A2) hull, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 392) at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula MS.
  • Assigned to the Navy as Naval Transport, Fremont (AP-89)
  • Redesignated Attack Transport (APA-44), 1 February 1943
  • Launched, 31 March 1943
  • Acquired by the Navy, and placed in partial commission, 30 May 1943, for transit to her fitting out yard, LCDR. James H. Budd, USNR in command
  • Decommissioned, 11 June 1943 at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD., for conversion to an Attack Transport
  • Re-commissioned USS Fremont (APA-44), 29 November 1943, CAPT. Clarence V. Conlan in command
  • During WWII USS Fremont was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Thirteen (flagship), COMO. M.O. Carson USN (16);
    TransDiv Thirty-Seven and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 16 to 26 June 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 14 January 1945
    Western Caroline operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 6 March 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 13 October to 22 November 1944     		 

  • USS Fremont (APA-44) was assigned Occupation service for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    Asia 30 December 1945 to 7 January 1946
    Europe 15 March to 27 June 1951
    Europe 3 May to 8 October 1953
    Europe 30 September 1953 to 24 January 1954

  • Redesignated Amphibious Transport (LPA-44), 1 January 1969
  • Decommissioned prior to 3 September 1969, at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration, 10 October 1969
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 June 1973
  • USS Fremont earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 April 1974 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., New York City N.Y., delivered to her buyer, 22 April 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,100 t.(lt), 16,100 t.(fl)
    Length 492'
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 26' 6"
    Speed 18.4 kts (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 46
    Enlisted 515
    Flag Accommodations
    Officers 43
    Enlisted 108
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 72
    Enlisted 1,140
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 175,000 cu. ft., 4,700 t.
    Boats
    12 LCVP
    4 LCM (Mk-6)
    3 LCP(L) (MK-IV)
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two quad 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 Foster-Wheeler D-type boilers 465psi 765°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive 350Kw 240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Fremont 67k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way, 13 February 1944, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Fremont 98k USS Fremont (APA-44) underway, circa 1944-1946, location unknown. This Ingalls-built ship emerged from conversion with a rig of three Ingalls-style goalpost s. In April 1944 Fremont received a unique non-standard armament including three 40mm quadruple mounts (one of them visible here forward). Note that her command facilities have expanded to port to the extent that the forward port boat davit and its boats have been removed. She retained her davits and boats to starboard.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo #USN 1045447, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Fremont
    100304419    		 162k USS Fremont (APA-44) underway, circa 1944-1946, location unknown.
    Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker
    Fremont 1551k USS Fremont (APA-44) and USS Mount McKinley (AGC-7) moored at Genoa, Italy, 9 March 1954. Note the USS Telfair (APA-210) LCVP #1 in the foreground. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Fremont
    100304418    		 121k USS Fremont (APA-44) underway, circa late 1950s, location unknown.
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Nicholas Tiberio
    Fremont 210k USS Fremont (APA-44) moored at Genoa, Italy, 21 April 1957. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Fremont 43k Bow view of USS Fremont (APA-44) moored at NOB Norfolk, VA., June 1957. Photo by Derick S. Hartshorn
    Fremont 97k Stern view of USS Fremont (APA-44) moored at NOB Norfolk, VA., June 1957, Note stern of USS Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708) to port of Fremont
    Fremont 106k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way in Chesapeake Bay off Norfolk, VA., August 1964. © Richard Leonhardt
    Fremont 105k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way in Chesapeake Bay off Norfolk, VA., August 1964. © Richard Leonhardt
    Fremont 69k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way in 1966, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Fremont 116k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way in Chesapeake Bay off Norfolk, VA., August 1964. © Richard Leonhardt
    Fremont 146k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Fremont 58k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way, date and location unknown. Tony Yebba
    USS Fremont APA-44 web site
    Fremont 36k USS Fremont (APA-44) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Tony Yebba
    USS Fremont APA-44 web site
    Fremont/Aldebaran 99k USS Fremont (APA-44) being assisted into her berth alongside USS Aldebaran (AF-10) with the assistance of Okmulgee (YTB-765), forward, and Wapakoneta (YTB-766), aft, .
    Photo taken from USS Multiphen (AKA-61) at berth 301, date unknown.    		 © Richard Leonhardt
    Fremont 137k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine April 1967.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Fremont 171k USS Fremont (APA-44) under way in the Atlantic Ocean, enroute to the Mediterranean Sea, January 1968. Carey Smith Marietta, GA.
    Fremont 76k USS Fremont (APA-44) in port moored to a buoy, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.

    For more photos and information about USS Fremont, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • MARAD Vessel History Database
  • USS Fremont APA-44
    • Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Budd, James Hodgeson, USNR (Ferry Command)30 May 1943 - 11 June 1943
     Decommissioned11 June 1943 - 23 November 1943
    02CAPT. Conlan, Clarence Vincent23 November 1943 - 19 June 1945
    03CDR. Stuart, Alexander Lunde19 June 1945 - 18 July 1945
    04CAPT. Reinken, Louis Arthur18 July 1945 - 14 June 1946
    05CAPT. McDowell, Wayne Allison14 June 1946 - 22 August 1946
    06CAPT. Waldron, Eugene Matthew22 August 1946 - 14 March 1947
    07CDR. Murphy, Owen B.14 March 1947 - 19 April 1947
    08CAPT. Thomson, Hugh Pollard19 April 1947 - 18 June 1948
    09CAPT. Stryker, Joe Warren :RADM18 June 1948 - 27 May 1949
    10CAPT. Phillips, Richard Helsden :RADM27 May 1949 - 27 May 1950
    11CAPT. Spears Jr., William Oscar27 May 1950 - 19 June 1950
    12CAPT. Bryson, William Campbell :RADM19 June 1950 - 19 July 1951
    13CAPT. Leverton Jr., Joseph Wilson :RADM19 July 1951 - 28 July 1952
    14CAPT. Heming, Harold Millar 28 July 1952 - 18 July 1953
    15CAPT. Wilboume, William Wilkerson :RADM18 July 1953 - 10 June 1954
    16CAPT. Crighton, Charles Hemlick10 June 1954 - 14 July 1954
    17CAPT. Nelson, William Thackeray, USN (1930) :RADM14 July 1954 - 21 July 1955
    18CAPT. Lowndes, Thomas Pinckney21 July 1955 - 3 August 1956
    19CAPT. Pinney Jr., Frank Lucius :RADM3 August 1956 - 27 October 1957
    20CAPT. Savidge Jr., Paul Sheppard :RADM27 October 1957 - 18 August 1958
    21CAPT. Street III, George Levick18 August 1958 - 14 July 1959
    22CAPT. Mead Jr., Charles Hamden14 July 1959 - 1 August 1960
    23CAPT. Gerken, Alfred Frederick1 August 1960 - 8 April 1961
    24CAPT. Young, Lloyd Verne8 April 1961 - 13 July 1962
    25CAPT. Greenbacker Jr., John Everett13 July 1962 - 2 August 1963
    26CAPT. Burke Jr., Julian Thompson :RADM2 August 1963 - 14 August 1964
    27CAPT. Schmidt, Charles Kenneth, USN (USNA 1944)14 August 1964 - 24 August 1965
    28CAPT. Casey Jr., Martin Michael24 August 1965 - 5 August 1966
    29CAPT. Sheppard, William Lester5 August 1966 - 20 October 1967
    30CAPT. Herlong, Daniel Webster20 October 1967 - 16 December 1968
    31CAPT. Turk, Carl Frank16 December 1968 - 3 September 1969
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    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 Transport (AP) Photo Index Back To The Attack Transport (APA) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    > Last Updated 22 September 2023