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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

DD-243 / APD-13 Sands


Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Lima - Quebec
 NULQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive 30 January 1943) - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (9)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal
Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts (9-WIA, 30 January 1943, 2-KIA 2-WIA, 1 March 1944)
Clemson Class Destroyer:
  • Laid down, 22 March 1919, at New York Shipbuilding Corp. Camden, N.J.
  • Launched, 28 October 1919
  • Commissioned USS Sands (DD-243), 10 November 1920, ENS. William D. Leahy USN in temporary command
  • Decommissioned, 13 February 1931 at Philadelphia
  • Laid up at League Island
  • Recommissioned, 21 July 1932
  • Assigned to the Rotating Reserve in May 1933 at San Diego, CA.
  • Recommissioned in full in April 1934
  • Decommissioned, 15 September 1938, at San Diego CA.
  • Recommissioned, 26 September 1939
  • Converted to a High-speed Transport at San Francisco CA.
  • Redesignated (APD-13), 5 November 1942
  • During World War II Sands was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Rennell Island
    Sinking of Chicago (CA-29), 29 to 30 January 1943     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 18 to 21 October 1944
    Eastern New Guinea operation
    Lae occupation, 5 to 7 September 1943
    Finschhafen occupation, 22 September 1943
    Saidor occupation, 2 January 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 6 to 13 January 1945
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 15 and 26 December 1943
    Admiralty Island landings, Los Negros, 1 and 3 March 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 3 to 5 March 1945
    Hollandia operation
    Aitape Humboldt Bay-Tanahmerah Bay, 22 April 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, March through June 1945
    Western Caroline Islands operations
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, Anguar, 15 to 19 September 1944     		.

  • Decommissioned, 10 October 1945, at Philadelphia, PA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1945
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore MD.
  • Sands earned nine battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,215 t.
    Length 314' 4"
    Beam 31' 8"
    Draft 9' 10"
    Speed 33.3 kts.
    Complement 130
    Boats 4 LCP(L) landing craft
    Armament
    three single 4"/50 gun mounts
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    five single 20mm AA gun mounts
    one depth charge rack
    four depth charge projectors
    Propulsion two geared turbines, two propellers, 26,500 shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sands 95k Broadside view of Sands (APD-13) off Navy Yard Mare Island, 14 December 1942. Sands was at Mare Island undergoing conversion to a High-speed Transport from 5 November to 17 December 1942.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7753-12-42, 12/14/42.    		 Darryl Baker
    Sands 36k Sands (APD-13) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 CWO3 Curt Clark, USN Ret.
    Secretary/Treasurer American APD Corporation
    View the Sands (APD-13)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    American APD Corporation
    Four Stack APD Veterans

    Contact: CWO3 Curt Clark Secretary/Treasurer
    Address: 3384 Grim Ave., San Diego, CA 92104
    Phone: 619-282-0971
    E-mail: apdsec@cox.net
    Reunion Schedule
    2008 Reno, Nevada. Site and date to be determined
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    "The Green Dragons" Four-stack APD destroyer-transports in World War Two
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The USS Sands (DD-243) Page Back To The High-speed Transport (APD) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    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 December 2007