USS Guilford

USS Guilford (APA-112) was a Bayfield-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service in 1947 and was scrapped in 1976.

History
United States
Name	USS Guilford
Namesake	Guilford County, North Carolina
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Launched	14 July 1944
Commissioned	14 May 1945
Decommissioned	29 May 1946
Fate	Sold into merchant service, May 1947; scrapped, 1976
General characteristics
Class and type	Bayfield-class attack transport
Displacement	8,100 long tons (8,230 t) light 16,100 long tons (16,358 t) full
Length	492 ft 6 in (150.11 m)
Beam	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draft	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Propulsion	General Electric geared turbine, 2 combustion engineering "D"-type boilers, single propeller
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	12 × LCVPs 4 × LCMs (Mk-6) 3 × LCPLs (Mk-IV)
Capacity	180,500 cubic feet, 4,500 tons cargo
Troops	80 officers, 1,146 enlisted men Flag Accommodation: 43 officers, 108 enlisted men
Complement	51 officers, 524 enlisted men
Armament	2 × single 5-inch/38-caliber guns (fore and aft) 2 × single 40 mm AA guns 2 × twin 40 mm AA guns 18 × single 20 mm AA guns

History

USS Guilford was named for Guilford County, North Carolina, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. She was laid down (date unknown) as a Maritime Commission type (C3-S-A2) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 873) by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi; launched on 14 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas Lowry Bailey, wife of the Governor of the State; converted to an attack transport by Waterman Steamship Corporation of Mobile, Alabama; and commissioned there on 14 May 1945.

U.S. Navy (1945–1947)

After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, Guilford sailed for Newport, Rhode Island. Arriving on 22 June 1945 she served as a training ship for pre-commissioning crews until 30 July. Guilford then took on board cargo and troops at Norfolk, Virginia and sailed for the Pacific via San Diego. After off-loading troops at Iwo Jima and in the Japanese home islands, Guilford was attached to "Operation Magic Carpet" on 18 October. In two round trips from San Diego to Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, and Japan, she transported over 5,000 veterans back to the United States for discharge as well as carrying out troops for the occupation of Japan. Returning to San Diego on 6 March 1946 from her final Pacific voyage, Guilford embarked passengers for the East Coast and sailed for Norfolk via the Panama Canal on 15 March. Guilford reached Norfolk on 31 March and decommissioned there on 29 May 1946. She returned to the Maritime Commission on 31 May 1946.

In mercantile service (1947–1976)

Guilford was sold in May 1947 to Pope and Talbot Lines, and was renamed SS P&T Navigator. In 1963 she was resold to the American Foreign Steamship Corporation and renamed SS American Oriole. The ship was scrapped in 1976.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• "APA-112 Guilford". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved 20 April 2007.