SS African Meteor
USS Samuel Chase (APA-26)
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| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Laid down: | 31 August 1940 |
| Launched: | 23 August 1941 |
| Acquired: | 5 February 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 13 June 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 26 February 1947 |
| Fate: | Decommissioned |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,000 to 16,725 tons full load |
| Length: | 491 ft (150 m) |
| Beam: | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbine, single shaft, 8,500 shp |
| Speed: | 18.4 knots |
| Capacity: | 33 Higgins Boats |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), launched as SS African Meteor, was an Arthur Middleton class attack transport manned by the United States Coast Guard during World War II. She was named after Samuel Chase, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
Samuel Chase participated in all five of the major U.S. amphibious invasions in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, starting at Algiers in late 1942 and following with the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and Southern France before going to the Pacific in 1945. There she stood duty at Okinawa, under frequent air attack in the aftermath of its invasion, before participating in delivering occupation troops to Japan and repatriating U.S. troops through the middle of 1946.
She was decommissioned in February 1947, laid up in the James River in Norfolk, Virginia, struck from the Navy register in October 1958, and transferred to Maritime Administration in February 1959. She remained in the James River Reserve Fleet until sold for scrap in May 1973.
The ship was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 107) on 31 August 1940 as a Maritime Commission type (C3-P&C) hull at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi.
African Meteor was launched on 23 August 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Theresa Murray; acquired by the Navy on 5 February 1942; and commissioned as USS Samuel Chase (AP-56) on 13 June 1942, Commander Roger C. Heimer, USCG, in command.
The Chase got underway for Little Creek, Virginia. The engine room broke down just inside Cape May, NJ and it took a day to get them running again. Then through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and it broke down again. This time it took three days to get them running.
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Wikipedia