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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Wantuck (APD-125)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Quebec - Golf
 NHQG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (7) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Crosley Class High-speed Transport:
  • Authorized as (DE-692)
  • Laid down, 17 August 1944 as a Crosley Class High-speed Transport (APD-125) at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Quincy, MA.
  • Launched, 25 September 1944
  • Commissioned USS Wantuck (APD-125), 30 December 1944, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston MA., LCDR. Richard Bensen, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Wantuck was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; TransDiv One Hundred Six, CAPT. F. W. Schmidt, and participated in the following campaign:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, various dates from 21 April to 15 August 1945

  • Following World War II USS Wantuck was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    2 September to 2 October 19451 February 1948
    21 October to 1 November 19451 July to 5 September 1950

  • During the Korean War USS Wantuck participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    9 to 14 September 1950
    18 September to 2 November 1950     		Second Korean Winter
    5 to 6, 17 to 18, and 28 to 30 December 1951
    21 to 27 January 1952
    19 to 27 March 1952
    Communist China Aggression
    3 to 21 November 1950     		Third Korean Winter
    8 to 20 April 1953
    Inchon Landing
    15 to 17 September 1950     		Korean Summer-Fall 1953
    1 to 11, and 15 to 19 June 1953
    27 July 1953
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    6 to 10 September 1951
    24 September to 8 October 1951     		 

  • Decommissioned, 15 November 1957, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 4 March 1958
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 27 October 1958 to Sundfelt Equipment Co., Inc. Wilmington CA.
  • USS Wantuck earned one battle star during World War II and seven battle stars during the Korean War
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,400 t.
    Length 306' ovl.
    Beam 37"
    Draft 12' 7" (limiting)
    Speed 23.6 kts. (trial)
    Range 6,000 nautical miles at 12 kts.
    Complement 12-15 Officers, 189-192 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations 12 Officers, 150 Enlisted
    Boats 4 LCVP landing craft
    Troop Accoutrements
    six 1/4 ton trucks
    two 1 ton trucks
    four ammunition carts
    four pack howitzers
    Storage
    Ammunition 6,000 cu. ft.
    General Cargo 3,500 cu. ft.
    Gasoline 1,000 cu. ft.
    Armament
    one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    three twin 40 mm gun mounts
    six single 20 mm gun mounts
    two depth charge tracks
    Propulsion 2 Combustion Engineering "D" Express type boilers, 2 GE Turbines, (turbo-electric drive), 2 shafts, Shaft horsepower 12,000
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Wantuck 126k Forward plan view of USS Wantuck (APD-125) at Navy Yard Mare Island, 28 February 1946. Wantuck was at the yard from 2 January to 3 March 1946. USS Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416) is inboard of Wantuck. Darryl Baker
    Wantuck 143k Aft plan view of USS Wantuck (APD-125) at Navy Yard Mare Island, moored outboard of USS Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416), 28 February 1946. Darryl Baker
    Wantuck 135k USS Wantuck (APD-125) serving as station ship at Hong Kong, 1950. Bert Kortrgaard USS Wantuck 1948-51
    Wantuck 497k USS Wantuck (APD-125) off Inchon Invasion Beach, 25 September 1950 Bert Kortrgaard USS Wantuck 1948-51
    Wantuck 30k USS Wantuck (APD-125) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    Wantuck 82k USS Wantuck (APD-125) and USS Comstock (LSD-19) underway while transporting Marines to Inchon, South Korea, date unknown.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-423221 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Wantuck 120k A gush in the port side of USS Wantuck (APD-125) makes her look like two ships instead of one as she is edged into drydock for repair, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Wantuck 210k USS Wantuck (APD-125) moored pierside, circa 1952-53, location unknown. John Cloud
    USS Wantuck (APD-125)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Inchon to Hungnam APD-125 & APD-127
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Back To the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Destroyer Escort Index Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The High-speed Transport (APD) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 11 January 2013