From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships

Effingham

Counties in Georgia and Illinois for which APA-165 was named.

(APA - 165: dp. 6,720; l. 455'; b. 62'; dr. 24'; s. 18 k.; cpl. 692; a. 1 5"; cl. Haskell)

The first Effingham (APA-165) was launched 29 September 1944 by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, Oreg., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. J. C. Casada; transferred to the Navy 19 July 1944; and commissioned 1 November 1944, Commander C. H. McLaughlin, USNR, in command.

Sailing from San Francisco 2 January 1945, Effingham trained at Guadalcanal with the 1st Marines, then staged at Ulithi for the invasion landings on Okinawa 1 April. For 6 days she remained off the island, unloading her cargo and fighting off enemy air attacks. She returned to San Francisco for overhaul, then arrived back at Okinawa 12 August. With the end of the war, she transported troops to Jinsen, Korea, and Taku, China, for the reoccupation of those countries. In October and November she embarked Chinese troops at Hong Kong for transfer to Chinwangtao and Tsingtao. She returned to the west coast in December bringing home servicemen, and after a similar voyage to the Far East on "Magic Carpet" duty, sailed for the east coast. She was decommissioned at Norfolk 17 May 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal 3 days later.

Effingham received one battle star for World War II service.

Transcribed by Yves HUBERT (hubertypc@aol.fr)