USS Wayne (APA-54) was a that served with the US Navy during World War II.
Wayne was originally laid down as a type C2-S-E1 ship under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 476), yard hull 7 (U.S. Official Number 251508) on 20 April 1942 as Afoundria at Chickasaw, Alabama, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation.Confusingly yard hull 14, MC hull 482, was laid down as Afoundria (U.S. O/N 244018) (Confusing even to MARAD database builders as status card is for O/N 244018 and number in header is for the ship that became Wayne, O/N 251508.). The second Afoundria was completed 11 November 1943 and was operated by Waterman Steamship Company for the War Shipping Administration as a troop ship until 26 March 1946. The ship was renamed Wayne and classified as a transport, AP-99, on 26 October 1942; launched on 6 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. N. G. Nicolson; reclassified an attack transport, APA-54, on 1 February 1943; acquired by the Navy on 30 April 1943; delivered to the Navy the following day, 1 May 1943, and simultaneously placed in commission "in ordinary."
Taken to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at Key Highway Yard, Baltimore, Maryland, Wayne was converted for naval service. Decommissioned on 11 May 1943 for the duration of the conversion work, Wayne (APA-54) was recommissioned at Baltimore on 27 August 1943.
World War II Wayne departed Baltimore on 1 September and headed down the eastern seaboard to Norfolk, Virginia., where she arrived the following day to take on fuel, stores, equipment and a full complement of landing craft. After shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay, Wayne departed Hampton Roads on 4 October, bound for New York. Upon finishing loading at New York, she put to sea on 13 October and, escorted by destroyer and destroyer escort , headed for the Pacific. The attack transport transited the Panama Canal on 21 and 22 October and arrived at Naval Base San Diego at the end of the month. For the remainder of 1943, Wayne operated out of San Diego on training exercises with various battalion landing teams of the 4th Marine Division.
On 13 January 1944, Wayne got underway with marines of the 3rd Battalion (Reinforced), 24th Marines embarked and steamed in convoy for the Hawaiian Islands. She arrived at Lahaina Roads, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, on the 21st. There, she fueled from oiler and took on stores from store ship . She departed Hawaiian waters two days later, bound for the Marshall Islands.
Invasion of Kwajalein
Arriving off Kwajalein on 30 January as part of the northern landing force, Wayne transferred her marines to LSTs which then carried them inside the lagoon to the beachhead. After retiring to the open sea at night, the attack transport returned to the transport area the next morning, lowered her boats, and commenced unloading cargo.
On the afternoon of 1 February, Wayne left the Marshalls and put in at Funafuti, in the Ellice Islands, on the 9th. Fueling there, Wayne and attack transport were detached from the homeward-bound convoy on the 17th, near Efate, in the New Hebrides, and anchored in Havannah Harbor. Nine days later, Wayne and her consort shifted to Guadalcanal. Wayne trained with marines in the Solomons before she moved to Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 21 March. Subsequently, after discharging naval passengers at Guadalcanal, she shifted to Emirau, St. Matthias Islands.
Wayne disembarked marine replacements for the garrison there on 11 April. That same day, she stood out of Emirau harbor on a return run to Guadalcanal with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Division, embarked. Wayne performed a similar reinforcement mission to New Britain where American forces had been fighting to push back Japanese troops since the previous December. At the time the attack transport arrived there, Allied troops had established a line about halfway across the island toward Rabaul and were awaiting more aid before continuing the push.
On 18 April, Wayne began embarking men of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion, 4th Marine Division, and on the 20th stood out to relieve the 1st Marine Division on New Britain, arriving on 23 April. Wayne then began a complicated cargo and man-handling task. While troops and equipment of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion were being disembarked and unloaded on one side of the ship, men of the 4th Battalion, 11th Marines, were being embarked on the other. Completing that assignment on the 25th, Wayne sailed to the Russells, where she unloaded cargo and disembarked more troops on the 28th before moving on to Guadalcanal the same day. From 10 May to 3 June, Wayne trained at Guadalcanal.
Invasion of Saipan On 4 June, the attack transport stood out for Kwajalein – the staging area for the forthcoming Marianas campaign – and, from the 9th to the 12th, participated in staging and rehearsal operations. On the latter day, Wayne got underway for the Marianas. Her embarked Marines – 1st Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division – were earmarked to land at Guam if not needed at Saipan.
On 15 June, transports under Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner landed Marines under the command of Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, USMC, on Saipan, covered by intensive naval gunfire and carrier-based air support. Wayne steamed offshore for several days after the initial assault. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, which took place between the 19th and the 21st, Wayne remained on station about 250 miles east of Guam, while the action was taking place some 500 miles to the west of the island. On 25 June, her troops as yet unused, the attack transport – part of Task Group 53 (TG 53) – was ordered to retire to the Marshalls to await further orders.
Invasion of Guam Wayne remained at anchor in Eniwetok lagoon from the end of June through mid-July. Underway on 17 July, the attack transport proceeded to Guam, where she arrived three days later. There, she witnessed part of the intensive preinvasion shelling by the gunfire support ships in the task force under Rear Admiral R. L. Conolly. Carrier-based air attacks also assisted in the "softening up" process.
At 08:28 on 21 July, Wayne'''s embarked marines headed for shore in the first wave of the invasion. The attack transport completed her unloading of equipment on the morning of the 23rd. During her stay, she received 177 wounded troops from the beaches, and her medical department rendered sterling work in the care and treatment of those men. Wayne stood by for two additional days after finishing her unloading before departing the Marianas on the 25th and carrying 165 wounded fighting men to Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides. Putting into Espiritu Santo on 5 August, Wayne discharged her disabled passengers and stood by to await further orders.
Invasion of Peleliu The attack transport remained at anchor in the New Hebrides until 14 August, when she shifted to Guadalcanal, en route to Renard Sound, in the Russell Islands, where the 1st Marine Division was encamped. From the 17th to the 26th, Wayne carried out practice landings in preparation for the next operation, the assault on the Palau Islands. On 26 August, the attack transport sailed with TG 32.3 and devoted the ensuing days of the voyage to drills and briefings for the upcoming landings.
On the morning of 15 September, marines of the 1st Marine Division moved ashore at Peleliu. Waynes troops were among those who landed that morning. They were later followed by boatloads of high-priority cargo: ammunition and medical supplies. By 11:00, three and one-half hours after the initial waves waded ashore, the first of the casualties began to arrive back on the ship for medical treatment, evidence of the intense and bloody struggle going on ashore. Japanese guns swept the beaches and waters offshore with deadly accuracy. Casualties among the marines and boat crews were high. In the days that followed, Wayne kept up a steady pace of discharging cargo and receiving casualties during the day and retiring seaward at night.
On the night of 20 September, she was ordered to move close inshore to serve as casualty evacuation ship, 1,000 yards off the reef. As the attack transport closed the island, enemy artillery opened up, lobbing two shells over the ship. Later during the night, machine gun fire from Japanese guns passed overhead. Wayne retired from the Palaus on 21 September and proceeded to Humboldt Bay, New Guinea. Between 1 and 12 October, Wayne participated in staging operations, including loading troops of the 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry, 24th Division, USA, and their equipment on the 8th and a practice landing at Sko Skai beach, eight miles east of Humboldt Bay, on the 12th.
Invasion of Leyte On the morning of the 13th, the attack transport got underway for Leyte, Philippines, and arrived off the town of Palo on the 20th, the first day of the invasion. An enemy plane, a twin-engined "Nick", passed by the ship and was taken under fire by Waynes 5-inch battery for a brief time before it dove steeply over friendly ships astern.
As the ship's commanding officer later recounted, the landings on Leyte were "accomplished with surprising ease." The beach upon which Wayne had landed her troops and equipment had been "... lightly defended at best ...", facilitating a rapid unloading. The operation was not without cost to the ship, however, as a Japanese gun scored a direct hit on one of the ship's LCVP landing craft, killing some of the Army personnel embarked and slightly wounding the boat's coxswain.
By 16:00 on D-Day, all cargo and troops had been unloaded, and Wayne got underway for Humboldt Bay – but only to return to Leyte with troops of the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Division, together with their cargo.
Departing Dutch New Guinean waters on 9 November, the attack transport arrived off Leyte on the 13th. While no enemy planes made an appearance close to Wayne that morning, a solitary "Jill", carrying a torpedo, attacked the convoy to which she was attached. At 17:00, the enemy aircraft appeared forward of the convoy, briefly took a parallel course to it, and then when aft of Wayne position, banked to starboard and began a low-altitude run on LSV . The torpedo missed, but Catskills gunners did not and the raider splashed into the sea. Later that day, more enemy aircraft appeared in the vicinity, prompting the ships to go to general quarters, but did not come close enough to draw fire. By the time the word came to secure from general quarters, the convoy was in approach disposition in Leyte Gulf.
Aircraft kill
At 07:35 on the 14th, Wayne'''s lookouts observed three "Zeke" fighters forward of the ship at a range of 7,000 yards. The planes maneuvered back and forth, closing the range steadily and drawing fire from the ships of the convoy. Wayne forward 5-inch gun managed to get off one round to include in the scattered gunfire. Apparently the antiaircraft barrage sufficed to force the enemy to stay out of range. Attracted by the firing, American P-38s soon showed up and downed two of the "Zekes." The third "Zeke", however, returned to the area, going into a strafing dive.
At a range of 400 yards, the plane swooped low at 150 feet altitude. Wayne starboard guns opened fire and tracers began striking the plane. The "Zeke" changed course, crossing Waynes bow at 200 yards. The attack transport's port batteries now commenced firing, scoring hits. Flames burst from the fuselage, and the "Zeke" executed a fatal wingover and spun out of control into the sea.
Within the space of a day, Wayne unloaded her cargo and disembarked her troops and, by 16:30 on the 14th, was ready for sea, her boats hoisted on board and secured. Departing that day, the attack transport moved to Seeadler Harbor, at Manus, in the Admiralties. Provisioning and taking on fuel after her arrival there on the 20th, Wayne departed on 30 November, bound for Aitape, British New Guinea. Arriving there on 1 December, Wayne remained at anchor through Christmas.
Invasion of Luzon