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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_all_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy%2C_C

USS Catron (APA-71 ?D?) sunk by gunfire in the Pacific, 6 May 1948. ( http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-5.htm ) Operation Crossroads: Disposition of Target Vessels

Catron
A county in New Mexico.

(APA-71 dp. 4,247; 1. 426'; b. 58'; dr. 16'; s. 17 k.; cpl. 820, a. 1 6"; cl. Gilliam)

Catron (APA-71) was launched 28 August 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission Contract; sponsored by Mrs. H. O. Chalkley; acquired by the Navy 27 November 1944 commissioned 28 November 1944, Lieutenant Commander D. MacInnes, USNR, in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Catron stood out of San Pedro, Calif., 18 January 1945, bound for training in the Solomon and Florida Islands. She arrived at Purvis Bay 5 February, and on 21 March reported at Ulithi, Caroline Islands, to combat load for The assault on Okinawa. Carrying men of the 6th Marines and their cargo, she arrived off Okinawa for the initial assault on 1 April; this first assault was carried out by the ship with the skill born of thorough training. Through the first week of the last great campaign of the Pacific War, Catron remained off the island, landing cargo to support the Marines in their rapid push across the island.

Leaving Okinawa astern 7 April 1946, Catron sailed to San Francisco to load cargo which she delivered to Guam 13 June. Here she embarked 297 Japanese prisoners of war with whom she arrived at San Francisco 5 July. After a brief overhaul, she was underway with cargo for Okinawa, where she called from 12 to 24 August. Her next passage was to the Philippines, where she embarked occupation troops for transportation to Japan, arriving 25 September. Here Catron took aboard her most satisfying group of passengers, 562 former prisoners of war whom she carried home to San Francisco, arriving 19 October.

Catron made two more voyages from San Francisco to carry troops to the Philippines between 29 October 1945 and 12 February 1946, when she reported at Pearl Harbor to be stripped in preparation for Operation "Crossroads," the atomic tests at Bikini. She was decommissioned 29 August 1946, and remained in the Pacific for radiological and structural study until sunk on 6 May 1948.

Catron received one battle star for World War II service.

( http://www.historycentral.com/navy/Transport/Catron.html )

Seeking Information of Ships Returning Canadian Hong Kong Vets
USS Catron 	 USA 	 Manila, Philippines 	 "XXXXXXX" 	 San Francisco, CA 	 45 Oct 19

I am doing an extensive study of "C" Force, the Canadian Brigade that went to Hong Kong in 1941 and returned in 1945. The information I am looking for is dates for the various ships used to transport the Canadians back to Canada from various ports in South East Asia. I am looking the dates marked XXXXXX for the following ships. ( http://www.mansell.com/HK-evac%20ships.htm )

Gilliam Class:
* Maritime Commission S4-SE2-BD1 type * Displacement: 6,800 tons (full load) * Length: 426' * Beam: 58' * Draft: 15'6"   * Speed: 16.5 knots    * Troops: 1,000-2,000    * Turboelectric engines; 6,600 hp

No. Name                              	Comm. Notes (: Lost) APA-58 	Appling 	1944 APA-59 	Audrain 	1944 APA-60 	Banner 	1944 APA-61 	Barrow 	1944 APA-62 	Berrien 	1944 APA-63 	Bladen 	1944 APA-64 	Bracken 	1944 APA-65 	Briscoe 	1944 APA-66 	Brule 	1944 APA-67 	Burleson 	1944 APA-68 	Butte 	1944 APA-69 	Carlisle 	1944 APA-70 	Carteret 	1944 APA-71 	Catron 	1944 APA-72 	Clarendon 	1944 APA-73 	Cleburne 	1944 APA-74 	Colusa 	1944 APA-75 	Cortland 	1945 APA-76 	Crenshaw 	1945 APA-77 	Crittendon 	1945 APA-78 	Cullman 	1945 APA-79 	Dawson 	1945 APA-80 	Elkhart 	1945 APA-81 	Fallon 	1945 APA-82 	Fergus 	1945 APA-83 	Fillmore 	1945 APA-84 	Garrard 	1945 APA-85 	Gasconade 	1945 APA-86 	Geneva 	1945 APA-57 	Gilliam 	1944 APA-87 	Niagara 	1945 APA-88 	Presidio 	1945

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS -- USS Catron (APA-71), 1944-1948

USS Catron, a 4,247-ton Gilliam-class attack transport, was built at Wilmington, California, and was commissioned in November 1944. She departed San Pedro, California, in January 1945 and, after conducting training, arrived at Ulithi in March to load troops and supplies for the assult on Okinawa. She participated in the initial assault on the island and then remained offshore for the next week, landing cargo as required to support the troops. She then returned to San Francisco, carried cargo to Guam, transported Japanese prisoners of war back to San Francisco, and carried cargo to Okinawa, where she learned of the Japanese surrender.

Moving to the Philippines, Catron embarked occupation troops which she delivered to Japan in September. In October she brought over 500 former prisoners of war back to San Francisco. She then made two voyages from San Francisco to carry troops to the Philippines. In February 1946 she reported to Pearl Harbor to be stripped for use as a target ship in the Bikini atomic bomb tests. Afloat after the tests but contaminated by radioactivity, she was decommissioned in August 1946 and sunk as a target by USS Atlanta (CL-104) in May 1948.

This page features all our views of USS Catron (APA-71).

( http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/apa71.htm )