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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Dutchess (APA-98)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Victor - Quebec
NZVQ
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 (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal


Windsor Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, date unknown, as a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1676) at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrow Point Shipyard, Sparrow Point, MD.
  • Launched, 26 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS Dutchess (APA-98), 4 November 1944, CDR. Aubrey B. Leggett USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Dutchess was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
    TransRon Eighteen, COMO. J.G. Moyer USN (14);
    TransDiv Fifty-Three, CAPT. W.N. Thornton USN and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 8 May 1945

  • Following World War II USS Dutchess was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 23 September to 9 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 4 April 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 5 April 1946, to the James River Reserve Fleet , Lee Hall, VA., for disposal
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 14 April 1946
  • USS Dutchess earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Merchant Service
    Towed by Moran towing and Transportation Co.(General Agency Agreement), 13 November 1947, from Lee Hall to Brooklyn, N.Y.
    Delivered to Bethlehem Steel Brooklyn 56th Street Shipyard, 15 November 1947, for reconversion for merchant service
    Sold for merchant service to American Export Lines, 22 September 1948, renamed SS Excalibur
    Owner name changed to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, 8 June 1964
    Resold to C. Y. Tung, Hong Kong, 17 September 1965, renamed SS Oriental Jade, reflagged Liberian
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,950 t.(lt), 13,143 t.(fl)
    Length 473' 1"
    Beam 66'
    Draft 25'
    Speed 18.6 kts.
    Complement
    42 Officers
    434 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    94 Officers
    1,463 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity non-refrigerated 150,000 Cu. ft., 1,600DWT.
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm 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 750°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 8,000shp

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    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Dutchess (APA-98)
    Dutchess 76k USS Dutchess (APA-98) probably photographed in Chesapeake Bay upon completion of conversion in November 1944.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-73675, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Mike Green
    Dutchess 40k USS Dutchess (APA-98) anchored, date and location unknown. Submitted by Mrs. Linda Wichmann Scriven for her father H.S. Wichmann USS Dutchess
    Dutchess 50k USS Dutchess (APA-98) anchored, 1945, location unknown. Henry Wristen USS Dutchess
    Duchess
    100309911
    210k USS Duchess (APA-98) in convoy lined up in formation followed by at least six additional amphibious attack transports and attack cargo ships, 6 February 1945, for antiaircraft firing practice while enroute to the Iwo Jima invasion, 6 February 1945.
    US Navy photo by US Navy photographer Wallace Page
    Dave Way, Historian / Artifact Collections,
    Pacific Battleship Center |
    National Museum of the Surface Navy at the Battleship IOWA
    Dutchess 142k Navy "Smoker" aboard USS Dutchess (APA-98), date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Dutchess 168k USS Dutchess (APA-98) arriving in port with men crowding her decks, probably while bringing troops home from the Pacific war zone circa late 1945.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 78561. Courtesy of James Russel1.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Merchant Service
    USA American Export Lines / Hong Kong Oriental Overseas Container Line Ltd.

    Dutchess 560k Ex-USS Dutchess (APA-98) in merchant service as the American Export Liner SS Excalibur, circa mid-1950s-early-1960s, location unknown. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Dutchess 506k American Export Liner SS Excalibur, underway, circa mid-1950s-early-1960s, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Dutchess 46k Ex-USS Dutchess (APA-98) in merchant service as Orient Overseas Line's SS Oriental Jade, date and location unknown.  
    Dutchess 81k SS Oriental Jade in merchant service as the C. Y. Tung Lines cargo vessel, moored pierside at Yokohama, Japan, 17 November 1973. Note the "added-on" bow portion. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Dutchess 100k SS Oriental Jade advertisement. Tommy Trampp

    USS Dutchess (APA-98)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Leggett, Aubrey Bartram, USNR4 November 1944 - 6 March 1946
    02LCDR. Stevenson, Raymond, USNR6 March 1946 - 2 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    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
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    Last Updated 13 May 2022