Yancey AKA-93

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Yancey AKA-93

 

 

   Yancey (AKA-93) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1193) on 22 May 1944 at Oakland, Calif., by the Moore Dry Dock Co.; launched on 8 July 1944 ; sponsored by Miss Beverly Bartlett ; and commissioned on 11 October 1944, Comdr. Edward R. Rice, USNR, in command. After fitting out at San Francisco, Calif., the attack cargo ship received her boat group of 26 landing craft and conducted an intensive shakedown out of San Pedro, Calif. She underwent post-shakedown alterations and repairs at San Diego, Calif., before she shifted back to San Francisco. There, she loaded cargo from 18 to 24 November and sailed the next day for the Hawaiian Islands. Yancey reached Pearl Harbor on 2 December 1944 and, upon arrival, was assigned to Transport Division (TransDiv) 47, Transport Squadron (TransRon) 16. The attack cargo ship remained at Pearl Harbor through mid-January 1945, unloading cargo and preparing for the impending invasion of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. Finally, on 27 January 1945, Yancey stood out of Hawaiian waters, bound for the Marianas with elements and cargo of the 5th Marine Division as part of Task Group (TG) 51.12. En route, Yancey stopped at Eniwetok, in the Marshalls, for supplies and fuel. At Saipan, she later transferred her passengers to LST's and at Tinian rehearsed for the Iwo Jima operation. Finally, Yancey arrived off Iwo Jima at 0624 on 19 February, D day for the initial landing. During her time off the invasion beaches, the ship lost two landing craft (LCVP's)-one to mortar fire and the other to broaching in the heavy surf. For the first four days of the operation, Yancey's boats and landing craft were in almost constant use-carrying troops and cargo and evacuating wounded. The ship also transferred 8-inch ammunition to the heavy cruiser Pensacola (CA-24), a process that had to be carried out by boat due to unfavorable weather and to damage which Yancey suffered when the two ships banged hard together. Due to the tactical situation ashore, Yancey did not begin discharging general cargo until the morning of the 27th, when she anchored off "Red" beach. There, bad weather and unfavorable beach conditions made unloading slow, and nightly air raids interrupted the process several times. Much of the time, landing craft could not be used due to the high surf, so cargo had to be carried ashore by LST's, LSM's, and LCT's. During that unloading period, Yancey received her baptism of fire in the form of a long-range mortar shell. The ship, however, did not suffer any casualties and continued her duties offshore, embarking casualties. Thirty of the wounded were kept on board for evacuation, while others were transferred to nearby hospital ships. Yancey finally completed the unloading procedure on 2 March and, screened by a pair of destroyers, got underway for Saipan in company with three other transports. After discharging casualties and fueling at Saipan, Yancey proceeded via Tulagi to Espiritu Santo where she joined the rest of her squadron and embarked units of the Army's 27th Division. On 25 March, Yancey sortied for the Ryukyus as part of TG 51.3, the group earmarked as the mobile reserve. En route, via a scheduled stop in the Carolines, Yancey towed a disabled LSM to Ulithi. On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, American forces started going ashore at Okinawa, beginning the long and bloody battle for that island. Eight days later, Yancey reached Kerama Retto with the rest of TransDiv 47, which had been detached from TG 51.3. She soon received orders sending her to battle and got underway on 11 April for the Hagushi beaches. Yancey anchored off the beach on the 12th and commenced discharging her cargo that night. There, she started a routine of working hatches, securing to man all antiaircraft batteries, and at night making smoke. "Smoke boats"-landing craft equipped with smoke-laying equipment-from the attack cargo ship and picket boats-with armed sailors-were furnished ships in the outer anchorage. This measure improved security, but it prevented the boats so employed from unloading the ships. Air raids caused further problems. Yancey's commanding officer estimated that while Yancey was off Okinawa, she lost 15 hours and 13 minutes due to the enemy airmen. Fortunately, her gunners were good and her fire control discipline excellent. On the evening of the 15th, her number four 40-millimeter mount registered hits on a Nakajima Ki. 43 "Oscar" and claimed a "sure assist" as the plane crashed some 3,000 yards from the ship. The ship, the first AKA of her group to complete the unloading, finally put to sea on the 16th and headed independently for the Marianas, During the Okinawa campaign, Yancey had fortunately suffered only three casualties: two men were wounded by shrapnel and a third suffered a broken arm. No boats were lost, and there were no accidents on board ship. After a brief stop at Guam to draw replacement boats and to allow her officers and men to get ashore for some rest and recreation, Yancey rejoined her squadron at Ulithi on 27 April and underwent 14 days of upkeep and logistics. In addition, she received much-needed boiler repairs and conducted intensive antiaircraft training during which her crew won numerous five-case "beer prizes" for shooting down target sleeves. On 8 May, Yancey received orders for detached duty in connection with the movement of men and materiel from rear area bases. Over the next two months, while the fighting continued on Okinawa and Allied forces moved inexorably closer to Japan, raiding her shores with near impunity, Yancey touched at Manus in the Admiralties; Finschhafen, New Guiena; Tulagi; Hollandia, Dutch New guiuan, on the island of Samar, in the Philippines.After reporting back to TransDiv 47, At San Pedro Bay , Leyte Gulf, on 16 July, Yancey proceeded with the rest of the Division to Iloilo, on the island of Panay, to conduct amphibious excerises with the Army's 43rd Division which included landing on Negros Island. On 15 August 1945. the attack cargo ship was in the Philippines loading equipment for slated exercises when Japan capitulated. The next day, the training exercises were cancelled, and the troops disembarked. TransDiv 47 provisioned at Iloilo and sailed for Batangas, Luzon, Philippines, to join the rest of TransRon 16. There , she commenced loading elements for the occupation of Japan. 

Completing the loading process on the 23rd, Yancey weighed anchor on the 25th as a member of Task Force 33. However, the ships had to turn back because of a tropical storm in the vicinity. The typhoon delayed the task force for only a day, as the ships weathered the fringes of the storm at Subic Bay before getting underway soon thereafter.

Yancey entered Tokyo Bay on the morning of 2 September, the day Japan signed the formal articles of surrender on the deck of the battleship Missouri, anchored there. Shortly after the conclusion of the ceremonies, the attack cargo ship  headed into Yokohama harbor, the third ship in her squadron to enter that port and the first to start unloading. The ship completed her unloading in 19 hours and then proceeded to an anchorage off Yokohama.

TransRon 16 proceeded to sea on 4 September and steamed via Leyte Gulf to Zamboanga. There, they commenced loading elements of the Army's 41 Infantry Division on the 18th. Completing that process on the 18th, Yancey and her sisters shifted soon thereafter to Bugo, Mindanao, where she picked up Army LCM'S. Ultimately, TG 54.28, of which Yancey was a part, assembled in Leyte Gulfon the 21st. The following day, all ships weighed anchor and headed for the Inland Sea of Japan.

Due to minesweeping difficulties, however, the landing scheduled for the Kure-Hiroshima area were postponed; and the task group sailed instead for Buckner Bay, Okinawa. On 23 September, the ship put to sea to avoid a typhoon. On 1 October, she returned and anchored in Buckner Bay. Two days later, Yancey again headed for Japanese waters and entered Bungo Suido on the 5th, beginning the long, difficult passage up the Inland Sea along the channel swept through the minefields. The next morning after spending the night anchored in the cleared channel, Yancey headed for Hiro Wan, where the landing were made.

The ship completed her unloading in  48 hours. On 9 October, she was detached from TransRon 16 and reported to CinCPac for assignment. The following day, Yancey rode out a typhoon with 130 fathoms of chain on deck, a second anchor ready to go, and steam at the throttle. On the 11th, the rest of her squadron hoisted "homeward bound " pennants and headed for home, leaving Yancey to celebrated the first anniversary of her commissioning anchored in Hiro Wan, Japan, "waiting orders".

It was sometime after this that I left the Yancey and returned to the States for discharge from the Navy at Lido Beach, Long Island, New York on March 8th 1946. I was in the Navy for a total of 2 years, 9 months and 21 days having entered the Navy on May 18, 1943 while I was still 17, going on 18 on August 23, 1943.

It is to be noted at this point that I arrived at Pearl Harbor on the USS Cogswell on December 9, 1943 and arrived back in Pearl Harbor on December 2, 1944, reassigned to the USS Yancey, just seven days short of a year from the first time I was here. I had crossed the International Date line many times and had been below the Equator several times while I was still only a teenager, 18 years, 4 months and 30 days old.

                        

The USS Yancy (AKA-93) is now located off the coast of North Carolina in the vicinity of the Cape Lookout Shoals near Beaufort. It was purchased by the state of North Carolina for use as an artificial reef. She lies in about 160 feet of water and is not marked with a buoy due to the depth of the water. It is still completely intact and is laying on its starboard side. Her official designation is now AR-302.