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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

AP-101 Wood / APA-56 Leedstown

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Windsor Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 26 August 1942, as SS Exchequer, a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-A1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 590) at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Assigned to the Navy, 26 August 1942, as Wood (AP-101)
  • Reclassified Attack Transport (APA-56), 1 February 1943
  • Launched, 13 February 1943
  • Renamed Leedstown, 17 March 1943
  • Commissioned USS Leedstown (APA-56), 16 July 1943, CDR. Harold Bye in Command
  • During World War II Leedstown 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, 5 February 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 July to 5 August 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945
    Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, Peleliu, 15 to 20 September 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 22 February 1945

  • Decommissioned, 7 March 1946, at Seattle WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 1 July 1946
  • Sold by the Maritime Commission for commercial service in 1947, to Shepard Steamship Co., renamed SS Minute Man
  • Resold to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines (date unknown), renamed SS Exilona
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in April 1970
  • Leedstown was awarded six battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,950 t.(lt), 13,143 t.(fl)
    Length 473' 1"
    Beam 66'
    Draft 25'
    Speed 18.6 kts.
    Complement
    54 Officers
    522 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    91 Officers
    1,496 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 150,000 cu. ft., 1,600 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    one geared turbine drive
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers
    single shaft, design shaft horsepower 8,000
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Leedstown (APA-56)
    Leedstown 100k Leedstown (APA-56) underway, October 1943, place unknown. .
    Leedstown 83k Leedstown (APA-56) underway, circa mid-1943. This view was probably taken just after completion of the ship's conversion to an attack transport but before she embarked her landing craft.
    US Navy photo # NH 99047 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Leedstown 142k Leedstown (APA-56) underway off the California coast, 30 August 1945. Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station San Pedro, CA.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-339875 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Commercial Service
    Leedstown 52k Ex-Leedstown (APA-56) in commercial service as the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines SS Exilona underway on the River Weser enroute to Bremen, Germany, October 1964 Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    View the Leedstown (APA-56)
    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
    No information available
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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 April 2006