USS Union (AKA-106) was a of the United States Navy, the fourth ship of her name. She served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Construction and career She was laid down as a Type C2-S-AJ3 ship named North Carolina (MC 1697) on 27 September 1944 by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina;Silverstone, p. 313 launched on 23 November 1944 and renamed Union at the time of launching; sponsored by Mrs. William Olive Burgin; moved to the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. at Hoboken, N.J., to undergo conversion into an attack transport for use by the United States Navy; and commissioned on 25 April 1945.
World War II and afterwards, 1945 After provisioning and receiving ammunition on 6 May, Union proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, for shakedown training. She returned to the Norfolk Navy Yard on 15 May for availability and loading before departing for Pearl Harbor. On 27 May, the ship left Norfolk for the Canal Zone and arrived at Hawaii on 18 June 1945. After unloading her cargo and undergoing availability for repairs, Union left Honolulu on 16 July en route to Eniwetok and Guam. Stopping briefly at Eniwetok on 24 July, Union proceeded to Guam where she arrived on 2 August 1945.
The ship received orders to transport cargo to Leyte in the Philippines and got underway on 20 August. Upon arrival, she was directed to unload and proceed at once to Cebu where she loaded and transported units of the Americal Division to Japan as part of Transport Squadron (TransRon) 13, consisting of some 22 ships. The group steamed into Yokohama harbor on 8 September, and she unloaded her cargo and the Army personnel. Two days later, Union got underway for a turnaround trip to the Philippines. She was diverted to Okinawa to pick up repatriated prisoners of war for Guam where she arrived on 16 September. Union remained at Guam through 2 October when she set course for Qingdao, China, to transport marines for occupation duty.
On 24 October 1945, Union anchored at Manila, then made a round trip to Subic Bay with to pick up landing craft replacements for the entire squadron. The ship departed Manila Bay on 30 October for Haiphong, French Indochina, to embark elements of the 52nd Chinese Nationalist Army for transportation to Qinhuangdao, North China. Having disembarked the troops and equipment on 12 November, Union proceeded to Taku, China, and remained there until she received orders on 1 December. The following day, she set course for Manila Bay, Philippines, thence to San Pedro, Los Angeles, via Pearl Harbor. She arrived in California on 29 December.
1946–1950 Union operated out of San Diego conducting local operations between periods of upkeep. Caught in the tremendous postwar personnel turnover, Union sometimes operated with less than 50 men on board. In early September 1946, she was called upon to transport typhoon relief supplies to Guam. Some ports visited were Pearl Harbor; Guam; Saipan; Samar Island, Philippines; Qingdao, and Taku, China. Her amphibious expertise contributed to her success during Operation "Shaft Alley" in Samar and also in resupplying marines at Guam and Beijing. Christmas morning of 1946 found Union anchored off Taku Bar where she celebrated the New Year.
Throughout January and February 1947, Union conducted operations at Samar Island, Philippines; Qingdao, China; and Guam. On 23 February, she departed Samar for San Diego via Pearl Harbor. The ship arrived at San Diego on 22 March, then sailed to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a scheduled overhaul. On 14 May, the ship departed Puget Sound for San Diego via San Francisco and began preparing for "Barex-47," the 1947 Point Barrow supply expedition. After loading at Port Hueneme, Union and departed for Seattle on 7 July. On 30 July, the expedition left Seattle for the purpose of delivering supplies to agencies north of the Arctic Circle. After unloading at Point Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska, she loaded empty oil drums and old ammunition at Kodiak, Alaska, and delivered her cargo to Seattle on 24 August.
Personnel shortages throughout the Navy necessitated the ship's restricted mobility status for about eight months after she returned to San Diego on 6 September 1947. During the summer of 1948, Union repeated the Point Barrow resupply trip. On 26 July 1948, "Barex-48" got underway from Seattle. Union returned to San Diego on 24 August and finished out the year conducting local operations, which included Operations "Satanic" and "Demon."
On 10 January 1949, Union departed San Diego for "Microex-49," a cold weather amphibious operation off Kodiak and Whittier, Alaska. The ship returned to San Diego on 25 February and conducted a month of local operations before undergoing overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, from 31 March to 10 May 1949. Returning to San Diego, Union prepared for a third Point Barrow trip. The off-loading at Point Barrow, Alaska, was accomplished from 3 to 6 August. On 16 August, Union arrived back at Port Hueneme, California, and then proceeded to San Diego. She spent the remainder of 1949 in San Diego conducting local operations with the exception of Operation "Miki," a major amphibious exercise in the Hawaiian area held during the month of October.
Union departed Pearl Harbor on 7 November and arrived at Seattle, Washington, for a one-day stay. She returned to her home port on 21 November and operated in the San Diego area until 22 May 1950 when she set course for Yokosuka, Japan, arriving on 6 June.
Korean War, 1950–1953 The Korean War began on 25 June 1950. On that day, Union was underway conducting landing exercises at Sagami Wan, Honshū, Japan. She stopped briefly at Yokosuka before arriving at Sasebo on 3 July for repairs. Repairs and training continued at Yokosuka until Union sailed to Yokohama on 11 July to embark Army troops and equipment for transportation to Pohang, Korea, on 18 July. Having delivered her cargo, the ship returned to Yokosuka on 25 July and conducted various exercises until 4 September when she arrived at Kobe, Japan, to reload. On 11 September, Union got underway for Jinsen, Korea, where boat landings took place four days later amidst mortar, machine gun, and rifle fire. On 21 September, Union departed for Sasebo, Japan, with seven casualties on board. After delivering the casualties, Union travelled to Kobe, Japan, arriving on 4 October. She set course for Inchon, Korea, that day and arrived four days later to unload marines and equipment. She stopped at Yonghung Man Kosen, Korea, for five days before arriving at Yokosuka on 2 November. Union then got underway for San Diego, California, returning to her home port on 22 November 1950.
Union then proceeded to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for a regular overhaul which lasted from 1 December 1950 to 14 February 1951. She returned to San Diego on 24 February and operated in her home port area until 5 July. At that time, she set sail for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, for a month of repairs.
The next assignment for Union was the first of two resupply trips to the Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George in the Bering Sea, the homeland of the largest fur-seal herd in the world. Her primary mission was to deliver tons of supplies to personnel of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries who worked on the two small islands. The ship arrived back at San Diego on 4 September.
Later in September, Union sailed to Subic Bay, Philippines, carrying heavy earth-moving equipment. She then began forward area amphibious training with the 45th Army Division off the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. During December, the ship sailed to Hong Kong and lifted Allied troop replacements to Inchon, Korea. Union returned to Sasebo, Japan, on 22 December and remained in port through 15 January 1952.
On 19 January 1952, the ship returned to Yokosuka, Japan, and conducted operations between Yokosuka, Chigasaki, and Sasebo until March of that year.
On 19 March 1952, Union helped to shift a battalion of marines from Sokcho Ri, a harbor on the east coast of Korea, to the west coast. After the lift was accomplished, the ship returned to Yokosuka, Japan, on 5 April. After a trip to Buckner Bay on 19 April and several round trips between Yokosuka and Sasebo, she embarked troops and landed them on the island of Koje-do on 21 May. Union departed Yokosuka on 14 June for San Diego via Pearl Harbor. She arrived at San Diego on 2 July 1952 and spent the remainder of the summer in local operations and upkeep. In September, she sailed north to ban Francisco for a regular shipyard overhaul by Mechanix, Inc., which lasted from 25 September to 24 November 1952. Union spent the remainder of the year in the San Diego area.
The first half of 1953 was spent in refresher training and local operations in the San Diego area. On 14 July, Union sailed for her fifth cruise to the Orient. The war in Korea was concluded by a truce on 27 July, and Union arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on 9 August. She received orders to Korea and transported North Korean prisoners of war from Koje-do to Inchon in two trips which fully occupied the month of August. From September through November, Union divided her time between Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. The ship got underway for the United States on 1 December 1953 and returned to San Diego on 19 December 1953, in time for a leave and upkeep period over the holidays.
1954–1959 January through April 1954 found Union engaged in local operations and upkeep in the San Diego area. On 26 April, she sailed for San Francisco via Port Hueneme, California. From 3 May to 2 July, Union underwent a regular overhaul at the Todd Shipyards Corp., Alameda, California. The ship returned to San Diego on 11 July and spent the summer in refresher training.
On 1 October, Union joined Amphibious Squadron 1; and, on the 23rd, she departed for a sixth Western Pacific (WestPac) deployment. Union arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on 10 November and underwent voyage repairs. She visited the Japanese ports of Osaka and Sasebo and celebrated Christmas at sea en route to Korea. While training Korean Marine Corps and Navy units, Union ushered in the New Year at Chinhae.
In January 1955, Union proceeded to Subic Bay, Philippines, via Sasebo, Japan. After a restricted availability at Subic and a visit to Hong Kong, Union departed in February for the Tachen Islands where she and other ships assisted in the evacuation of Chinese Nationalist troops and refugee civilians. Having landed the evacuees at Keelung on 13 February, Union visited Hong Kong, Yokosuka, and Beppu, Japan.
After loading men and equipment of the 1st Marine Division at Inchon, Union departed on 3 April for a quick turn-around trip to San Diego. She returned to Pusan, Korea, on 20 May and arrived back at San Pedro, California, on 12 June with Marine air group personnel and equipment.
Union spent the month of January 1956 participating in Operation "Cowealex" which called for a landing on Umnak Island in the Aleutians. Rough weather necessitated changing the landing site to Unalaska Island in Makuskin Bay. The ship returned to San Diego on 9 February and conducted local operations. Union then left California en route to Pearl Harbor to participate in a landing exercise, "Hawrltlex 1–56" which concluded on 11 April. She arrived at San Diego on 23 April and spent the months until November taking part in local operations and undergoing upkeep. Late in August, Union made a brief trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, to represent the United States Navy in the Pacific National Exhibit. On 13 November 1956, the ship sailed for San Francisco and an overhaul at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point.