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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

APA-109 Grafton

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Uniform - Zulu
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 - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Bayfield Class Attack Transport:
  • Laid down, 3 March 1944, as SS Sea Sparrow, a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A2) hull, laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1554) at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, CA.
  • Launched, 10 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS Grafton (APA-109), 5 January 1945, at San Francisco, CA., CAPT. C. D. Emory in command
  • During World War II Grafton was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:
  • Decommissioned, 11 May 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 12 May 1946
  • Sold for commercial service in 1947 to American Mail Lines Ltd., renamed SS Java Mail later SS Carrier Dove
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1974
  • Grafton earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,100 t.(lt) 16,100 t.(fl)
    Length 492' 6"
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 26' 6"
    Speed 18 kts.
    Complement 51 Officers, 524 Enlisted
    Flag Accommodations 43 Officers, 108 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations 80 Officers, 1,146 Enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 180,500 cu. ft, 4,800 t.
    Boats 12 LCVP, 4 LCM (Mk-6), 3 LCP(L) (MK-IV)
    Armament two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, one fore and one aft, two single 40mm AA gun mounts, two twin 40mm AA gun mounts, eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion one General Electric geared drive turbine, 2 Foster-Wheeler D-type boilers, 1 propeller, Design shaft horsepower 8,500
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Grafton 97k Grafton (APA-109) commissioning ceremony, 5 January 1945, at San Francisco, CA. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
    Grafton 212k Probably a boxing match between crew members of Grafton (APA-109) and crew members of Crockett (APA-148) at Angaur Island, Palaus Islands, Western Caroline Islands Group the week of 3 June 1945. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO-2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
    Grafton 25k Grafton (APA-109) at anchor, possibly at Iwo Jima in late-October 1945. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
    Grafton 173k Grafton (APA-109) with Japanese POWs on board. On 28 June 1945 at Okinawa Grafton loaded 1,000 Japanese POWs and transported them to Pearl Harbor via Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO-2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
    Grafton 37k Grafton (APA-109), at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, circa late 1945 early 1946 Submitted by R.D. Davis MD. (AETM 2/c) in honor of Bailey Drew Adair (dec.) USS Grafton.
    Grafton 54k Grafton (APA-109), at right, and Alamance (AKA-75), at left, moored pierside at Sasebo, Japan, 1945 Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton
    Grafton 369k Grafton (APA-109) Officers and Chief Petty Officers and the ship's mascot Half Hitch. Half Hitch was a pet of the carpenters and lived in their shop. Note on the rear bulkhead the builders plate that identifies Western Pipe and Steel as the builder of the ship. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton
    Grafton 416k Grafton (APA-109) wardroom shared by both Officers and Chief Petty Officers. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton
    Grafton 156k Grafton (APA-109) loading a caterpillar tractor with a long A frame boom, date and location unknown. Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton
    View the Grafton (APA-109)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    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
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    Last Updated 19 October 2007