Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Belknap (APD-34)
ex
 USS Belknap (AVD-8) (1940-1944)
 USS Belknap (DD-251) (1920 - 1940)
 USS Belknap (Destroyer # 251) (1919 - 1920)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Juliet - Romeo
 NQJR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (11 January 1945) - Presidential Unit Citation - American Defense Service Medal (with "A" device)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Personnel Awards

38 KIA, 49 WIA, 11 January 1945
Clemson Class Destroyer:
  • Laid Down, 31 July 1918, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA.
  • Launched, 14 January 1919
  • Commissioned USS Belknap (Destroyer No. 251), 28 April 1919, LCDR. S. Gassee in command
  • Designated (DD-251), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 28 June 1922, at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Philadelphia, PA.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • Converted Seaplane Tender (Destroyer) (AVD-8)
  • Recommissioned, 2 August 1940
  • Converted to a High-speed Transport redesignated (APD-34), 22 June 1944
  • During World War II USS Belknap (APD-34) was first assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and later to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, TransDiv One Hundred Two, CDR. J. N. Hughes USN (31) and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Task Group 21.12, 20 April to 20 June 1943 Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 10 October to 29 November 1944
      Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 18 January 1945
  • Decommissioned, 4 August 1945 at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Belknap received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned three battle stars for her World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 30 November 1945
    Specifications:
    Displacement; 1,215 t.(lt) 1,600 t.(fl)
    Length; 314' 4"
    Beam; 30' 8"
    Draft; 9' 10"
    Speed; 27.6 kts.
    Complement;
    Officers 8
    Enlisted 98
    APD Troop Accommodations
    Officers 3
    Enlisted 144
    APD Boats; 4 LCP(L) landing craft
    APD Armament
    three single 3"/50 cal. dual purpose gun mounts
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    five single 20mm AA gun mounts
    one depth charge track
    four depth charge projectors
    APD Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 3,215 Bbls
    Diesel 50 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two Westinghouse turbines
    two White-Forester boilers, 250psi Sat°
    single Westinghouse Main Reduction Gears
    two 60Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Belknap (AVD-8)
    Albemarle
    09410536    		 159k USS Belknap (AVD-8) alongside USS Albemarle (AV-5) while at anchor in Little Placentia Bay, Argentia, Newfoundland, circa September 1941 to May 1942.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-7448, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		Rick Davis
    Belknap 151k USS Belknap (AVD-8) underway in 1943, while operating with USS Core (CVE-13) engaged in hunter-killer operations north of the Azores. Photo -Paul Rebold
    Caption - Robert Hurst
    Greene
    10043604    		 269k Left to right; USS Belknap (AVD-8), USS Greene (AVD-13), USS Osmond Ingram (AVD-9), USS Lea (DD-118) and HMCS Woodstock (K-238) moored at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, between 3 and 6 May 1943.
    National Archives photo 80-G-51487, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Rick Davis
    Belknap
    100403405
    80-G-232359    		 300k USS Belknap (AVD-8) alongside USS Croatan (CVE-25) during a refueling at sea and transfering of personnel via breeches buoy in the mid-Atlantic, 23 August 1943. Photographed from a USS Coratan (CVE-25) aircraft.
    US National Archives photo #'s 80-G-232359, 80-G-232360, 80-G-232361 and 80-G-232366    		 Rick Davis
    Belknap
    100403406
    80-G-232360    		 235k
    Belknap
    100403407
    80-G-232361    		 338k
    Belknap
    100403408
    80-G-232366    		 303k
    USS Belknap (APD-34)
    Belknap 112k USS Belknap (APD-34) under way, date and location unknown Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Belknap 54k Starboard side view of USS Belknap (APD-34) at Charleston, S.C., 27 July 1944, wearing camouflage MS31/12t. The ship has just undergone conversion to a high speed transport.
    US National Archives Bureau of Ships, Photo No. BS 69700    		 CWO3 Curt Clark, USN Ret.
    Secretary/Treasurer American APD Corporation
    Belknap 91k Starboard bow view of USS Belknap (APD-34) 24 February 1945, entering dry-dock USS ABSD-2, her camouflage 31/12t faded and worn. On 11 January, Belknap was struck by a Japanese suicide plane which crashed into the ship's number two stack. This crippled her engines and killed 38 men and wounded 49. After emergency repairs, the USS Hidatsa (ATF-102) towed her to Manus, Admiralty Islands for dry docking, as shown here, these repairs allowed her to sail back to the United States where she was decommissioned.
    US National Archives Photo No. 80-G-359493.    		 Mike Green
    USS Belknap (DD-251 / AVD-8 / APD-34)
    Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    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 USS Belknap (DD-251) Page Back To The Seaplane Tender, Destroyer (AVD) Photo Index Back To The High-speed Transport (APD) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 5 March 2021