USS Bayfield (APA-33) Class, Part 2

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USS Bayfield on 6 February 1952 showing the additional command facilities in this part of her class.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        BAYFIELD (APA-33), Part 2
Design:        MC C3-S-A2
Displacement (tons):        7,845 light, 16,100 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        492.0' oa, 465.0' pp x 69.5' e x 26.5' lim.
Original Armament:        2-5"/38 2-1.1"Q 18-20mm (1943-44: APA 33-45, 48)
Later armaments:        2-5"/38 2-40mmT 18-20mm (APA 33, 38, 45, 95-96, 99-102, 104);
1-5"/38 3-40mmQ 18-20mm (1944: APA-44); 1-5"/38 3-40mmQ 10-20mm (1946-47: APA-44); 1-5"/38 3-40mmQ 4<12-20mmT (1949-56: APA-44); 1-5"/38 3-40mmQ (1958-59: APA-44);
2-5"/38 4-40mmT 18>14-20mm (1945-46: APA-45, 95, 104); 2-5"/38 4-40mmT 12-20mmT (1945-46: APA 36-38, 92, 99); 2-5"/38 4-40mmT 12>4-20mmT (1949-57: APA-33, 36-38, 45); ; 2-5"/38 4-40mmT (1958-59: APA-33, 36-38, 45)
1-5"/38 4-40mmT (1966-67: APA-33, 45)
Complement:        520 (1944)
Speed (kts.):        18.4
Propulsion (HP):        8,500
Machinery:        G.E. turbine, 1 screw

Construction:

APA	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
33	BAYFIELD	30 Jun 43	Western Pipe, San Fran.	14 Nov 42	15 Feb 43	20 Nov 43
36	CAMBRIA	4 May 43	Western Pipe, San Fran.	1 Jul 42	10 Nov 42	10 Nov 43
37	CAVALIER	19 Jul 43	Western Pipe, San Fran.	10 Dec 42	15 Mar 43	15 Jan 44
38	CHILTON	29 May 43	Western Pipe, San Fran.	10 Sep 42	29 Dec 42	7 Dec 43
44	FREMONT	30 May 43	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	28 Oct 42	31 Mar 43	23 Nov 43
45	HENRICO	24 Jun 43	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	12 Nov 42	31 Mar 43	26 Nov 43
95	BURLEIGH	1 Apr 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	6 Jul 43	3 Dec 43	30 Oct 44
96	CECIL	26 Feb 44	Western Pipe, San Fran.	24 Jun 43	27 Sep 43	15 Sep 44
99	DADE	29 Apr 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	2 Sep 43	14 Jan 44	11 Nov 44
100	MENDOCINO	23 May 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	20 Sep 43	11 Feb 44	31 Oct 44
101	MONTOUR	9 Jun 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	20 Oct 43	10 Mar 44	9 Dec 44
102	RIVERSIDE	29 Jun 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	11 Nov 43	13 Apr 44	18 Dec 44
104	WESTMORELAND	12 Jul 44	Ingalls SB, Pascagoula	8 Dec 43	28 Apr 44	18 Jan 45

Disposition:

APA	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
33	BAYFIELD	28 Jun 68	1 Oct 68	15 Sep 69	MA/S	15 Sep 69
36	CAMBRIA	15 Sep 70	14 Sep 70	1 Sep 71	MA/S	7 Sep 71
37	CAVALIER	30 Sep 68	1 Oct 68	15 Sep 69	MA/S	15 Sep 69
38	CHILTON	1 Jul 72	1 Jul 72	15 Jul 74	MA/S	15 Jul 74
44	FREMONT	2 Sep 69	1 Jun 73	1 Sep 71	MA/R	5 Apr 74
45	HENRICO	14 Feb 68	1 Jun 73	3 Jul 68	MA/R	16 Mar 76
95	BURLEIGH	11 Jun 46	3 Jul 46	12 Jun 46	MC/D	26 Jun 47
96	CECIL	24 May 46	19 Jun 46	25 May 46	MC/D	7 Aug 47
99	DADE	25 Feb 46	12 Apr 46	25 Feb 46	MC/D	21 Jul 47
100	MENDOCINO	27 Feb 46	12 Mar 46	27 Feb 46	MC/D	19 Mar 47
101	MONTOUR	19 Apr 46	8 May 46	23 Apr 46	MC/D	5 Mar 48
102	RIVERSIDE	27 Apr 46	8 May 46	28 Apr 46	MC/D	7 Nov 47
104	WESTMORELAND	5 Jun 46	19 Jun 46	7 Jun 46	MC/D	2 Jul 47

Class Notes:
FY 1943 (APA 33-48), 1944 (others). The BAYFIELD (APA-33) class is presented here in two parts, Part 1 being the basic APA type and Part 2 being the ships additionally fitted to serve as Relief Headquarters Ships (relief AGC's or RAGC's). Information applying to all ships as well as to the basic APA's is provided in the class notes for Part 1, while the class notes for Part 2 focus on the relief ACG configuration and the ships that received it.

In the spring of 1943 the Navy, facing an urgent need for command ships for amphibious operations and realizing that the first ships being built specifically for that mission, the APPALACHIAN (AGC-1) class, would not be available until later in the year, gave several APA's enhanced command facilities and accommodations for staff personnel. Two or three APA-2 class ships (HARRIS, LEONARD WOOD, and possibly ZEILIN), one APA-21 class ship (MONROVIA), and one APA-25 class ship (SAMUEL CHASE) received modifications during 1943 to enable them to serve as relief headquarters ships. These early modifications were evidently inadequate--in November 1943 an amphibious training command reported that the temporary conversion of CHASE as a H/Q ship was unsatisfactory, and that the ship was also unsuitable as a division flagship or as a straight APA. (Some of these deficiencies in CHASE were probably corrected in December 1943.) These modifications generally did not affect the exterior appearance of the ships, although the deckhouse added on top of the bridge of MONROVIA in mid-1943 probably contained command facilities. In mid-1945, two more APA-21 class ships (CHARLES CARROLL and CALVERT) and two more APA-25 class ships (ARTHUR MIDDLETON and GEORGE CLYMER) were ordered fitted as relief AGCs, although the conversion of CARROLL was cancelled because the end of the war intervened.

On 10 Jun 43 Navy planners identified a need for 12 "relief communications ships similar to the MONROVIA" to help make up for the difficulty the Navy was experiencing in acquiring enough dedicated headquarters ships (AGCs). In June and July 1943 CNO designated six BAYFIELD-class ships (APA-33, 36-38, and 44-45) to be further modified during their APA conversion to allow them to serve as relief AGCs and transport squadron flagships. The structural alterations were conspicuous: a two-level deckhouse was added just aft of the stack that rose higher than the bridge, and another two-level deckhouse was added at the after end of the central superstructure between the after pair of boat davits. The ships' manpower allowance was increased by 43 staff officers and 108 enlisted. An attempt in July 1943 to add APA-34 and APA-44 to this program was cancelled later in the month when it was realized that these conversions would delay these urgently needed ships beyond their scheduled completion date. Seven of the 15 APAs added to the building program in July 1943 were later selected to receive the same alterations before completion.

After the war the increased command facilities in these ships were highly valued, and the modified ships that survived the force cuts immediately after the war saw extensive service. Progressive wartime and postwar modifications also increased the size of the command facilities and in some ships included the addition of a mast aft of the stack.

Ship Notes:

APA	Name	MC#	Notes
33	BAYFIELD	275	Ex merc. SEA BASS. Ex AP-78 1 Feb 43. Ferry comm. 30 Jun-10 Aug 43. Converted by Atlantic Basin IW, Brooklyn, N.Y. To buyer 8 Oct 69.
36	CAMBRIA	271	Ex merc. SEA SWALLOW. Ex AP-81 1 Feb 43. Ferry comm. 4 May-22 Jun 43. Converted by Todd SYs, Hoboken, N.J. In USN reserve 1949-50. To LPA-36 1 Jan 69. To NDRF 13 Nov 70. Sold in 1971 for use as a workshop in Haiti under the nane JEAN CLAUDE DUVALIER and delivered to her buyer on 5 Oct 71. She did not leave Norfolk because of financial difficulties and was resold for scrap in Feb 72.
37	CAVALIER	276	No merc. name. Ex AP-82 1 Feb 43. Ferry comm. 19 Jul 43 to ca. 22 Aug 43. Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken, N.J. To buyer 10 Oct 69.
38	CHILTON	273	Ex merc. SEA NEEDLE. Ex AP-83 1 Feb 43. Ferry comm. 29 May-10 Jul 43. Converted by Todd Erie Basin DD, Brooklyn, N.Y. To LPA-38 1 Jan 69. To NDRF 26 Oct 72. To buyer 6 Aug 74.
44	FREMONT	392	Ex merc. SEA CORSAIR. Ex AP-89 1 Feb 43. Delivered 95.0% complete. Ferry comm. 30 May-11 Jun 43. Converted by Maryland DD, Baltimore, Md. To LPA-44 1 Jan 69. To NDRF 10 Oct 69. To buyer 22 Apr 74.
45	HENRICO	393	Ex merc. SEA DARTER. Ex AP-90 1 Feb 43. Delivered 95.0% complete. Ferry comm. 24 Jun-8 Jul 43. Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken, N.J. To NDRF 21 Feb 68. To LPA-45 1 Jan 69. To buyer 19 Apr 76.
95	BURLEIGH	862	Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 1-13 Apr 44. Converted by Bethlehem 56th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. Merc. HAWAIIAN PILOT 1947. Scrapped 1973 as NOMA (ex SONOMA).
96	CECIL	1544	Ex merc. SEA ANGLER. Ferry comm. 27 Feb-5 Mar 44. Converted by Commercial IW, Portland, Ore. Merc. STEEL ADMIRAL 1947. Scrapped 1973.
99	DADE	864	Ex USS LORAIN 19.11.43. Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 29 Apr-9 May 44. Converted by Todd Shipyards, Hoboken, N.J. Merc. HAWAIIAN RETAILER 1947. To NDRF 1967. Sold by MA 3 Sep 70, to buyer 15 Sep 70.
100	MENDOCINO	866	Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 23 May-3 Jun 44. Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken, N.J. Merc. P & T SEAFARER 1947. Scrapped 1973 as ELIANA (ex SANTA ELIANA).
101	MONTOUR	868	Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 9-20 Jun 44. Converted by Bethlehem 56th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. Merc. STEEL ROVER 1948. Scrapped 1971.
102	RIVERSIDE	870	Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 29 Jun-8 Jul 44. Converted by Atlantic Basin IW, Brooklyn, N.Y. Merc. P & T FORESTER 1947. Wrecked 31 Mar 68 as SANTA LEONOR.
104	WESTMORELAND	872	Delivered incomplete. Ferry comm. 12-22 Jul 44. Converted by Todd Shipyards, Hoboken, N.J. Merc. STEEL KING 1947. Scrapped 1973.