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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

AP-97 / APA-52 Sumter

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

Sumter Class Attack Transport:

Laid down, 3 April 1942, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-E1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 474) for the Waterman Steamship Co., as SS Iberville at Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL.

Assigned to the Navy Transport AP-97 and renamed Sumter

Launched, 4 October 1942

Reclassified Attack Transport (APA-52), 1 February 1943

Acquired by the Navy, 30 April 1943

Fitted out for Naval service at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD.

Commissioned USS Sumter (APA-52), 1 September 1943, CAPT. A. D. Blockledge in command

During WWII Sumter was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

**Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Marshall Islands operation Ennumennit and Ennubier Atolls, 31 January to 3 February 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, San Pedro Bay, 22 October and 23 November 1944
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 to 24 June 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 12 January 1945
Western Caroline Islands operation Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, Anguar, 15 July to 23 September 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and capture of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 5 April 1945

Decommissioned, 19 March 1946, at Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw AL.

Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 1 August 1946, for disposal

Sold for commercial service (date unknown)

Converted into a containership at Mobile SR Inc., Chickasaw, AL., September 1957

Final Disposition, scrapped at Hong Kong in October 1978

Sumter received six battle stars for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 13,910 t.(fl)
Length 468' 8"
Beam 63'
Draft 23' 3"
Speed 16.5 kts.
Complement

39 Officers

410 Enlisted
Troop Accommodations

91 Officers

1,472 Enlisted
Cargo Capacity 170,000 cu. ft., 1,300 t.
Armament

two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
Propulsion

one General Electric geared drive turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers

single propeller

design shaft horsepower 6,000

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Sumter (APA-52)
	43k	Sumter (APA-52) underway, date and place unknown.	Terry Tull
	73k	Sumter (APA-52) underway, date and place unknown.	Terry Tull
	90k	Sumter (APA-52) underway, date and place unknown.	Terry Tull
	47k	Sumter (APA-52) underway, date and place unknown.	Terry Tull
Commercial Service
	72k	Ex-Sumter (APA-52) underway in commercial service as SS Gateway City departing Bremen, Germany, on the River Wiser, Germany, in thick fog, September 1966.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus

View the Sumter (APA-52)
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
USS Sumter

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Last Updated 25 August 2006