Like all attack transports, the purpose of the Arthur Middleton class was to transport troops and their equipment to hostile shores in order to execute amphibious invasions. To perform this task, attack transports were equipped with a substantial number of integral landing craft, and heavily armed with antiaircraft weaponry to protect themselves and their vulnerable cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone.
The Arthur Middleton class was based on the Maritime Commission's ubitiquous Type C3 hull - specifically the C3-P&C (Passenger & Cargo) type. This hull type had been designed with both merchant cargo service and naval auxiliary service in mind.
All three ships were laid down by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company of Pascagoula, Mississippi between July and October 1940. Time between initial laying of the keel to commission for each vessel varied from 20 to 26 months - an unusually long time, which suggests the shipyard may have experienced delays or had other priorities. The first to be commissioned was Samuel Chase on 13 June 1942, followed by the George Clymer two days later. Arthur Middleton, the lead ship of the class, was laid down first but not commissioned until 7 September 1942, about three months later.
The ships were initially classified as transports (AP) but were redesignated attack transports (APA) on 1 February 1943, the date on which several other classes of transport ship were redesignated.
In serviceedit
During World War II, two of the ships, Arthur Middleton and George Clymer, served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theatre, taking part in many of the Navy's island hopping campaigns. Samuel Chase, however, was assigned to the European Theatre, where she participated in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy, before transferring to the Pacific to take part in the final Battle of Okinawa.
Immediately after the war the three ships of the class were assigned to transporting troops to occupation duties in newly conquered Japan. They were then assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, the huge sealift organized to return demobilizing servicemen to the United States.
Following the Magic Carpet operation, two of the ships were decommissioned in late 1946 - early 1947, after which they saw no further service. George Clymer however, remained in commission, eventually seeing service in the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. She was finally retired on 31 October 1967, having provided the Navy with 26 years of continuous service and accumulated an impressive fifteen battle stars. She was sold for scrap on 31 July 1968. Her two sister ships, decommissioned more than twenty years earlier, followed her to the scrap yard on 9 May 1973.
arthur, middleton, class, attack, transport, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations,. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations June 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message The Arthur Middleton class attack transport was a class of three US Navy attack transport that saw most of its service in World War II Ships of the class were named after signatories of the American Declaration of Independence USS George Clymer APA 27 a ship of the Arthur Middleton classClass overview NameArthur Middleton class BuildersIngalls Shipbuilding Operators United States Navy Preceded byJohn Penn class Succeeded byFrederick Funston class Built1 Jul 1940 7 Sep 1942 In commission13 Jun 1942 31 Oct 1967 Completed3 Retired3 General characteristics TypeMCV hull type C3 P amp C Displacement9 000 tons lt 16 725 t fl Length489 491 ft Beam 69 ft 6 in 21 18 m Draft 26 ft 6 in 8 08 m PropulsionGeneral Electric geared turbine drive 2 Foster Wheeler D type boilers single propeller 8 500 hp 6 300 kW Speed18 4 knots 34 1 km h CapacityTroops 1 187 1 446 Cargo 200 000 cu ft 2 700 3 500 tons Complement29 37 officers 448 501 enlisted ArmamentVariable 0 1 5 38 caliber gun 4 3 50 caliber dual purpose guns 8 40mm guns 0 10 single 20mm guns 0 4 50 cal MG s Like all attack transports the purpose of the Arthur Middleton class was to transport troops and their equipment to hostile shores in order to execute amphibious invasions To perform this task attack transports were equipped with a substantial number of integral landing craft and heavily armed with antiaircraft weaponry to protect themselves and their vulnerable cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone Contents 1 Background 2 In service 3 References 3 1 NotesBackground editThe Arthur Middleton class was based on the Maritime Commission s ubitiquous Type C3 hull specifically the C3 P amp C Passenger amp Cargo type This hull type had been designed with both merchant cargo service and naval auxiliary service in mind All three ships were laid down by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company of Pascagoula Mississippi between July and October 1940 Time between initial laying of the keel to commission for each vessel varied from 20 to 26 months an unusually long time which suggests the shipyard may have experienced delays or had other priorities The first to be commissioned was Samuel Chase on 13 June 1942 followed by the George Clymer two days later Arthur Middleton the lead ship of the class was laid down first but not commissioned until 7 September 1942 about three months later The ships were initially classified as transports AP but were redesignated attack transports APA on 1 February 1943 the date on which several other classes of transport ship were redesignated In service editDuring World War II two of the ships Arthur Middleton and George Clymer served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theatre taking part in many of the Navy s island hopping campaigns Samuel Chase however was assigned to the European Theatre where she participated in the invasions of North Africa Sicily Italy and Normandy before transferring to the Pacific to take part in the final Battle of Okinawa Immediately after the war the three ships of the class were assigned to transporting troops to occupation duties in newly conquered Japan They were then assigned to Operation Magic Carpet the huge sealift organized to return demobilizing servicemen to the United States Following the Magic Carpet operation two of the ships were decommissioned in late 1946 early 1947 after which they saw no further service George Clymer however remained in commission eventually seeing service in the Chinese Civil War the Korean War and the Vietnam War She was finally retired on 31 October 1967 having provided the Navy with 26 years of continuous service and accumulated an impressive fifteen battle stars She was sold for scrap on 31 July 1968 Her two sister ships decommissioned more than twenty years earlier followed her to the scrap yard on 9 May 1973 References editSamuel Chase a George Clymer a Amphibious transport index b Notes edit a b See the individual ship articles from DANFS Online and the DANFS entry for Arthur Middleton See individual ship pages here Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arthur Middleton class attack transport amp oldid 1159262259, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
