In the final push to bring World War II to an end in the Pacific Theatre, the United States Navy began a massive program to build one hundred and nineteen AP - 5 Attack Transport Ships - fearing the worst case scenario of a possible invasion of the island of Japan. The third ship built by Portland’s Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was the “U.S.S. Laurens. “ This ship, named for Laurens County, Georgia, undoubtedly by Congressman Carl Vinson of Milledgeville - who was a long time friend to his Laurens County constituents and the powerful chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. Fifty five years ago this week, the “Laurens” began her made voyage from Astoria, Oregon, headed for action in the Pacific Ocean.
The keel of the “U.S.S. Laurens,” which was officially designated as APA 153, was laid on May 23, 1944. Seven weeks later, the “Laurens” was launched at Portland. After another seven weeks of completing her final fitting out, the ship arrived in Astoria, Oregon, where her crew, who had been training separately and together in various schools along the west coast and onboard the “U.S.S. Arlington,” was waiting to get onboard their new ship.
Captain A.R. Ponto, acting on behalf of the Maritime Commission, ordered the commissioning of the “Laurens” on September 7th, 1944. Captain Donald McGregor, U.S.N. took command of the ship with its compliment of thirty-two officers, including Executive Officer, Lt. Commander Raymond J. Solesie, U.S.N.R. and two hundred and seventy eight enlisted men. Nearly two weeks later on September 18th, the “Laurens” put out to sea on its maiden voyage with a crew, eighty percent of whom had never been to sea before. The ship traveled to San Francisco before taking a course to San Pedro, California, where Lt. John H. Livingston, would relieve Lt. Commander Solesie as Executive Officer. On the 20th of October, the ship returned to her base in San Francisco until the morning of the 26th.
In a dense fog, the “Laurens” passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific Ocean, this time bound for Lea, New Guniea. As the ship approached the Equator, the “pollywogs” - a nickname given to the novice sailors who have never been that far south before, were initiated into the “Realm of Neptunus Rex.” The “Laurens” arrived on the 12th of November, just in time to deliver a batch of Christmas mail.
The “Laurens” made several trips around New Guinea before making a fifteen hundred and fifty five mile round trip to New Caledonia just before Thanksgiving. On the 17th of December, the ship set out from Noumea, New Caledonia for another fifteen hundred mile trip - this time to Guadalcanal with fourteen hundred soldiers from the 35th U.S. Infantry, who were sent there to participate in landing exercises on Christmas Eve. Guadalcanal had been the scene in August of 1942 of the first American offensive of the war and one of the bloodiest battles in American history. The landings went well, although there were a few close calls. Japanese suicide bombers began to crash into the area, with one coming within one thousand yards of the “Laurens.”
On Christmas Eve, the ship set out for a short trip to Point Purvis. After a brief Christmas celebration, the ship’s crew took the ship on a thousand mile journey to Manus on Admiralty Island. On the day after New Year’s Day, again there wasn’t much time to celebrate, the “Laurens” set out on its third fifteen hundred mile journey, this time to Leyte in the Philippine Islands. For nearly three months, the ship traveled back and forth between the Philippine Islands and New Guinea.
On the 27th of March, the “Laurens” began its part in the invasion of Okinawa. With nearly one thousand men of the 24th Army Corps on board, the “Laurens” arrived in the transport area, west of Okinawa on April 1st, Easter Sunday. Once again, the ship avoided any direct hits by enemy aircraft. After two nights of night retirement, the ship was sent to Saipan in the Marianas Islands and then on a thirty five hundred mile trip to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After three weeks in Hawaii, the crew was ordered back to San Francisco. On the 1st of June, the “Laurens” once again set out for the main scene of the war in the Pacific. After stops in the Marshall and Caroline Islands, the “Laurens” returned to Okinawa on July 24th with a load of troops and material.
On the 14th day of August, while the ship was undergoing repairs at Mare Island Naval Yard, near San Francisco, the announcement was made that the was over, finally! The next day, Capt. James Francis Byrne, arrived to take over command of the ship. The “Laurens,” with one hundred and naval officers aboard, set out for Hawaii, where the war had begun nearly four years earlier. At Honolulu, the “Laurens” picked up six hundred tons of equipment and supplies of the 3rd Battalion, 391st Regiment, 98th Infantry Division. On the 6th of September, forty eight officers and one thousand seventy two men came onboard bound for
occupation duty in Japan. One year after she was commissioned, the “Laurens” was headed toward the western Pacific for the last time.
The ship arrived on September 27th and the 98th Division went ashore. The “Laurens” took over fifteen hundred men from Japan to Okinawa, before making a return trip to Japan with a hundred passengers onboard. The “Laurens” remained anchored in Tokyo Bay until the 10th of November, 1945, when she began her journey home.
During her fourteen months of duty in the Pacific the workhorse transport ship had transported thousands of tons of equipment, ferried several thousands soldiers, and traveled nearly sixty thousand miles - a distance equal to two and one-half circumnavigations of the globe along the equator, before arriving at home in Seattle, Washington. What happened to her after the war isn’t known. The ship may have been used for a short time after the war, possibly by private companies or perhaps she was sold to the navy of another government, or she, like many other ships, wound up in the scrap yard.
The history of the “U.S.S. Laurens” was written by an anonymous crew member in the months following the war. The illustrated booklet, entitled “Life of the Laurens,” can be found in the Dublin-Laurens Museum and the Laurens County Library, making its way here through the magic of Internet auctions. The “Laurens” played a small part in the largest naval operation in the history of the world, an event that we hope will never have to take place again.
