USS Bayfield (APA-33)

USS Bayfield (APA-33) at Charleston, South Carolina, 4 January 1950
History
Builder:	Western Pipe & Steel
Laid down:	14 November 1942
Launched:	15 February 1943
Christened:	Sea Bass (II)
Commissioned:	20 November 1943
Decommissioned:	28 June 1968
Renamed:	USS Bayfield
Struck:	1 October 1968
Honours and awards:	Four battle stars for service in World War II, four for Korean War service, two for the Vietnam War.
Fate:	Scrapped September 1969
Notes:	WPS Hull No. 87. MC Hull No. 275. Type C3-S-A2. Sponsor: Mrs. J. E. Schmeltzer. Delivered 30 June 1943.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Bayfield-class attack transport
Displacement:	8,100 tons, 16,100 tons fully loaded
Length:	492 ft (150 m)
Beam:	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draught:	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Propulsion:	General Electric geared turbine, 2 x Combustion Engineering D-type boilers, single propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,500
Speed:	18 knots
Boats & landing craft carried:	12 x LCVP, 4 x LCM (Mk-6), 3 x LCP(L) (MK-IV)
Capacity:	200,000 cubic feet (5,700 m³), 4,700 tons
Complement:	Crew: 51 officers, 524 enlisted Flag: 43 officers, 108 enlisted. Troops: 80 officers, 1,146 enlisted
Armament:	2 × single 5 inch/38 cal. dual purpose gun mounts, one fore and one aft. 2 × twin 40mm AA gun mounts forward, port and starboard. 2 × single 40mm AA gun mounts. 18 × single 20mm AA gun mounts.

USS Bayfield (APA-33) was a Bayfield-class attack transport built for the United States Navy during World War II, the lead ship in her class. Named for Bayfield County, Wisconsin, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Bayfield was originally laid down as SS Sea Bass under a Maritime Commission contract on 14 November 1942 at San Francisco, California by the Western Pipe and Steel Company. The hull was assigned to the Navy as naval transport AP-78 and was redesignated attack transport APA-33 on 1 February 1943.

APA-33 was launched on 15 February. The Navy acquired the vessel on 30 June, renamed it Bayfield, and placed it in reduced commission the same day. Bayfield left San Francisco on 7 July and arrived in Brooklyn, New York on 29 July, where it was decommissioned and converted by the Atlantic Basic Iron Works to an attack transport. The completed ship was then commissioned USS Bayfield (APA-33) on 20 November 1943 with Captain Lyndon Spencer, USCG, in command. Following a shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay and subsequent repairs at Norfolk Navy Yard, she conducted amphibious training in January 1944, underwent additional repair, and was declared ready for sea on 3 February.

She received orders to New York to embark troops for service in Europe. On 11 February the ship departed New York with a convoy bound for the British Isles and arrived at Glasgow, Scotland on 22 February. From there she moved south to the Isle of Portland, England to await orders.

On 11 March Bayfield made the short run to Plymouth and joined a group of amphibious ships that then set course for western Scotland. The ships reached the River Clyde on 14 March and carried out landing exercises there through 21 March in preparation for the European invasion at Normandy.