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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Bolivar (APA-34)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Uniform - Xray
NYUX

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 (5)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

Bayfield Class Transport:

Laid down, 13 March 1942, as SS Sea Angel, a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A2) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 269) at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco, CA.

Launched, 7 September 1942

Assigned to the Navy as Transport (AP-79)

Redesignated Attack Transport (APA-34), 1 February 1943

Acquired by the Navy, 15 March 1943 and placed in reduced commission the same day for transit to her conversion yard at Hoboken, N.J., LCDR. Roger E. Perry in command

Decommissioned, 23 April 1943, at Hoboken, N.J. for conversion to an Attack Transport

Recommissioned, 1 September 1943, as USS Bolivar (APA-34), CAPT. Joseph A. Gainard in command

During WWII USS Bolivar was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
TransRon Eighteen, COMO. J. G. Moyer USN (14);
TransDiv Fifty-Four (flagship), CAPT. J. R. Lannom USN (19) and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January 8 February 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 to 22 June 1944 Capture and occupation of Guam, 22 to 29 July 1944	Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 6 March 1945
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 20 October and 18 November 1944

Following World War II USS Bolivar was assigned to China service from 28 December 1945 to 11 January 1946

Decommissioned, 29 April 1946, at New York Naval Shipyard

Struck from the Naval Register, 19 July 1946

USS Bolivar earned five battle stars for her World War II service

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 12 September 1946

Merchant Service

Title transferred to American President Lines, 23 October 1948, at Mobile, AL., renamed SS President Van Buren

Renamed SS President Harding in August 1967

Sold to Pacific Far East Lines Inc., 25 March 1968, renamed SSThailand Bear

Sold in November 1970 to Prudential-Grace Lines, renamed SS Santa Monica

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 30 March 1973 to Nan Feng Steel Enterprises Co. Ltd., Taiwan

Specifications:
Displacement 8,100 t.(lt), 16,100 t.(fl)
Length 492'
Beam 69' 6"
Draft 23' 3" (lim)
Speed 18.4 kts (trial)

Complement

54 Officers

564 Enlisted

Flag Accommodation

43 Officers

108 Enlisted

Troop Accommodation

89 Officers

1,409 Enlisted

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.

Cargo Capacity, 4m700 DWT

non-refrigerated 200,000 Cu. ft.

Boats

twelve LCVP

four LCM (Mk-6)

three LCP(L) (MK-IV)

Armament

two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, one fore and one aft

two quad 1.1" gun mounts, aft port and starboard, replaced by two single 40mm AA gun mounts

two twin 40mm 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 Combustion Engineering D-type boilers, 465psi 750°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gears

three turbo-drive 250Kw 240V D.C.

single propeller, 8,500shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Bolivar (APA-34)
100303407	369k	*USS Bolivar* (APA-34)** underway, date and location unknown. MARAD	Dirk Dijksman
	93k	*USS Bolivar* (APA-34) underway circa September 1943 shortly after commissioning. She carries the standard rig of the Western Pipe-built units: a pair of kingposts and a mast forward and a pair of kingposts and a mast aft. In USS Clay (APA-39)** the forward pair of kingposts was later converted into a goalpost as in the Ingalls-built units US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-51443 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	94k	*USS Bolivar* (APA-34)** under way in the harbor at San Pedro, CA., date unknown.	Darryl Baker
	84k		Darryl Baker
Merchant Service Prudential-Grace Lines Inc.
	348k	Post card image of ex-*USS Bolivar* (APA-34)** as the Prudential-Grace Lines SS Santa Monica in the Port of Vancouver, B.C., date unknown. Photo © Michael Cassar.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus

USS Bolivar (APA-34)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Perry, Roger Edison, USN (USNA 1924) (Ferry Command)	15 March 1943 - 23 April 1943
	Decommissioned	23 April 1943 - 1 September 1943
02	CAPT. Gainard, Joseph Aloysius, USN	1 September 1943 - 12 November 1943
03	CAPT. Rogers, James Linn, USN (USNA 1911)	12 November 1943 - 28 November 1943
04	CDR. Wadell, Robert Paul, USN (USNA 1923)	28 November 1943 - 4 July 1944
05	CAPT. Field Sr., Wells Laflin, USN (USNA 1923) :RADM	4 July 1944 - 25 May 1945
06	CAPT. Smith, Francis Adams, USN (USNA 1917)	25 May 1945 - 29 April 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database
Navy Yard New York Bayfield Class APA Conversion Model

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 5 January 2024