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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Leedstown (APA-56)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Victor - Hotel
NKVH

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)

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 USS Leedstown was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
TransRon Eleven, COMO. D.W. Loomis USN (18);
TransDiv Thirty-One (flagship) and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 5 February 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, 13 to 25 October and 14 November 1944
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 July to 25 July 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 10 January 1945
Western Caroline Islands operation Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, Peleliu, 6 September to 14 October 1944	Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 6 March 1945

Following World War II USS Leedstown was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
12 to 25 October 1945
22 to 26 December 1945

Decommissioned, 7 March 1946, at Seattle WA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 12 February 1946

USS Leedstown earned six battle stars for World War II service

Towed from Seattle to Norfolk, VA., by Wood Towing Transportation Co.

Delivered, 11 December 1946, to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.

Merchant Service

Towed, 17 December 1946, by Moran Towing Co. from the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Norfolk, VA.

Delivered, 20 December 1946, at Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. Chickasaw, AL. for conversion to merchant service

Sold, 17 July 1947,to Shepard Steamship Co., renamed SS Minute Man

Resold to American Export Lines, 2 August 1949, renamed SS Exilona

American Export Isbandtsen Lines Inc, 8 June 1964

Renamed to Mutual Steamship Operating Co., 8 January 1970, renamed SS Ilona

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in April 1970 to Tung Ho Steel Enterprises Corp. Taiwan

Specifications:
Displacement 7,950 t.(lt), 13,143 t.(fl)
Length 473' 1"
Beam 66'
Draft 25'
Speed 18.6 kts.

Complement

45 Officers

522 Enlisted

Troop Accommodations

91 Officers

1,496 Enlisted

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.

Cargo Capacity 1,600 DWT

non-refrigerated 150,000 Cu. ft.

Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 12,330 Bbls

Diesel 675 Bbls

Propulsion

one Bethlehem Shipbuilding geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 742°

single Falk Main Reduction Gear

three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V. D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller 8,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Leedstown (APA-56)
	95k	*USS Leedstown* (APA-56)** near the Norfolk Navy Yard, 19 August 1943. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-53218, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	83k	*USS 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
	98k	*USS Leedstown* (APA-56)** underway, 19 August 1943, location unknown. Circles on the photograph mark alterations, in this case the addition of life rafts. US Navy photo from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.	Robert Hurst
	100k	*USS Leedstown* (APA-56)** at anchor, October 1943, location unknown.	.
	142k	*USS 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
Merchant Service American Export LInes
	268k	Ex-*USS 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

USS Leedstown (APA-56)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Bye, Harold	16 July 1943 - 20 December 1944
02	CAPT. Carlisle, H. A. USN (USNA 1921b)	20 December 1944 - 9 August 1945
03	CAPT. Miller, Adolph Jerome	9 August 1945 - 7 March 1946

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 11 August 2017