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USS ''General George M. Randall'' (AP-115) was a ''General John Pope'' class troop transport which served with the United States Navy in World War II and the postwar era. She was named after Major General George Morton Randall, an American Civil War hero, and veteran of the Indian wars of the 1880s and the Philippines in the early 1900s. ''General George M. Randall'' was launched at the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, in Kearny, New Jersey, as Maritime Commission hull 673 on 30 January 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Adele Lovett, wife of the Assistant Secretary of War for Air Robert A. Lovett; acquired and simultaneously commissioned on 15 April 1944, with Captain Carl C. von Paulsen, USCG, in command. She left the yard on 25 April 1944, for shakedown in Chesapeake Bay. The ship was manned by a US Coast Guard crew in the war. ==World War II== ''General George M. Randall'' sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, on 23 May 1944 with nearly 5,000 troops and casuals aboard, and sailing through the Panama Canal, put in at Bombay, India, on 5 July via Panama and Australia. She left Melbourne, Australia on 28 July, and arrived in San Pedro, California, on 12 August to debark over 2,000 wounded veterans. She made two more round-trip voyages from San Pedro to Bombay, via Melbourne, from 30 August 1944 to 28 February 1945. On one trip from 19 December 1944 to 2 January 1945, she carried the 596th Air Engineering Squadron from San Pedro to Hobart, Tasmania, and then on to Bombay. On one of these trips, one of the Army passengers wrote a song ''The General George M. Randall Blues'' for a variety show en route. After debarking passengers, she moved to drydock for repairs and alterations, including the mounting of additional 20mm guns. On 7 March 1945 Captain Lee H. Baker, USCG, reported on board, and on 12 March relieved Captain von Paulsen, who retired for health reasons. Moving to San Diego on 22 March, she embarked passengers for Pearl Harbor and Ulithi and sailed for San Francisco, California, where she embarked more Navy casuals for Pearl Harbor and Ulithi. She then sailed for Pearl Harbor on 27 March. Pearl Harbor was reached on 2 April, and after debarking passengers she picked up more passengers for Ulithi and sailed on 4 April. Arriving there on 14 April, she acted as receiving ship until 23 May, redistributing some 4711 Navy and Marine casuals to other fleet units. She sailed for San Francisco on 23 May with 459 Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine casuals returning to the states, and arrived there on 5 June 1945. The ship stood out under the Golden Gate on 8 June 1945 for Norfolk, passing through the Panama Canal again, and arriving there on 20 June. She sailed from Norfolk on 8 July for Marseille, where she arrived on 17 July. There she embarked over 5100 troops for redeployment in the Pacific theater in preparartion of the invasion of Japan. She departed on 19 July, passing through the Panama Canal for the third time, with the destination of Okinawa. She arrived at Eniwetok on 16 August 1945 where she re-fueled, and left for Ulithi on 17 August. She departed Ulithi on 21 August with two other transports escorted by a destroyer escort. As the war had ended, she was directed to offload her troops at Manila rather than continue on to Okinawa. She arrived at Manila on 26 August, debarked the troops she was carrying, and loaded Army, Marine, and Coast Guard casuals for return to the United States. She took aboard more at Tacloban, then arrived at Ulithi on 6 September where she loaded still more. She departed Ulithi on 9 September heading for San Francisco, but was diverted en route to San Pedro, California, where she arrived on 21 September. While at San Pedro, on 25 September Captain Harold G. Belford, USCG, relieved Captain Baker as commanding officer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS General George M. Randall (AP-115)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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