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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Grafton (APA-109)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Uniform - Zulu NZUZ

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 (1) - 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. Campbell D. Emory USN in command

During World War II USS Grafton was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
TransRon Twenty-Four, COMO. E. L. Short USN;
TransDiv Seventy-Two, CAPT. H.Y. McCown USN (18) and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 24 to 28 June 1945

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

Navy Occupation Service Medal
2 to 25 September 1945
19 to 24 October 1945

Decommissioned, 16 May 1946, at Norfolk, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946

USS Grafton earned one battle star for World War II service

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 17 May 1946, at the James River National Defense Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, VA.

Merchant Service

Moran Towing and Transportation, 4 December 1946, for towing from Lee Hall, VA. to Bayonne, N.J.

Entered Constable Hook Shipyard, Bayonne, N.J., 6 December 1946 for reconversion to merchant service

Custody transferred, 20 June 1947, to American Mail Line under at General Agency Agreement

Drydocked at Maryland Dry Dock, Baltimore, MD. 29 June 1947, for reconversion

Purchased by American Mail Line Ltd, at Norfolk, VA. 11 September 1947, renamed SS Java Mail

Sold to Waterman Steamship Corporation, 9 October 1969, renamed SS Carrier Dove

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 28 February 1975, to Chin Tai Steel Enterprises Co. Ltd, Taiwan

Specifications:
Displacement 8,100 t.(lt) 16,100 t.(fl)
Length 492'
Beam 69' 6"
Draft 25'
Speed 18.4 kts (trial)

Complement

Officers 41

Enlisted 437

Troop Accommodations

Officers 92

Enlisted 1470

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
Cargo Capacity 4,500 DWT

non-refrigerated 180,500 cu ft

Boats

twelve LCVPs

four LCM (Mk-6)s

three LCP(L) (MK-IV)s

Armament

two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

two twin 20mm AA gun mounts

eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 8,510 Bbls

Diesel 750 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox D-type boilers, 465psi 765°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gear

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

single propeller, 8,500shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Grafton (APA-109)
	97k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** commissioning ceremony, 5 January 1945, at Pier 27, San Francisco, CA.	Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
	356k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** commissioning ceremony, 5 January 1945, at Pier 27, San Francisco, CA. The tall officer at left in the third row is Ted de Vries, to his left is Dee Patterson.	Submitted by Dan Patterson for his father ENS. Dee Patterson USS Grafton
	369k	*USS 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. Photo taken probably taken at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 26 May 1945.	Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton
	109k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** anchored at Kossol Passage, Palau, 14 May 1945. "Colors at halfmast colors rendered upon death of President" (Franklin Delano Roosevelt died 12 April 1945).	Submitted by Dan Patterson for his father ENS. Dee Patterson USS Grafton
	329k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** Division photo taken at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 26 May 1945. ENS. Dee Patterson at far left, ENS. Ted de Vries at far right.	Submitted by Dan Patterson for his father ENS. Dee Patterson USS Grafton
	402k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** anchored in Kossol Passage, Palau, 14 May 1945. U.S. Navy photograph.	Robert Hurst and John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton and Robert Hurst
100310905	212k	Probably a boxing match between crew members of *USS Grafton* (APA-109) and crew members of USS Crockett (APA-148) at Angaur Island, Palaus Islands, Western Caroline Islands Group the week of 3 June 1945. In the ring is USS Grafton**'s Cox’n, George Vernon Whyte USN, Pacific Fleet middleweight champion.	Submitted by John Dupre' for his father-in-law CWO-2 Edmund H. Cokely USN, Asst Electrical Officer USS Grafton.
	173k	*USS 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.
	37k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, circa late 1945.	Submitted by R.D. Davis MD. (AETM 2/c) in honor of Bailey Drew Adair (dec.) USS Grafton
	54k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109), at right, and USS 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
	416k	*USS 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
	156k	*USS 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
Fireroom	227k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** engineering spaces, circa 1945-46. The officer in the engineroom photo is probably Ted de Vries.	Submitted by Dan Patterson for his father ENS. Dee Patterson USS Grafton
Engineroom	267k
	156k	*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** ship's party program, 20 November 1945	Barbara Vinsant
Merchant Service American Mail SS Co.
	424k	Ex-*USS Grafton* (APA-109)** under way while in merchant service as the American Mail Lines SS Java Mail departing Vancouver, B.C. circa late-1950s-early-1960s. Photo © F. K. Byass.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
100310917	43k	American Mail Lines SS Java Mail (ex-USS Grafton) underway, date and location unknown. From a 1963 kodachrome photo slide	Tommy Trampp