USS Pavlic (APD-70)
.jpg) USS Pavlic in San Diego Bay, California, in mid-1946. |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Pavlic |
| Namesake: | Lieutenant Commander Milton F. Pavlic (1909-1942), U.S. Navy Purple Heart recipient |
| Builder: | Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Consolidated Shipbuilding Company, Orange, Texas |
| Laid down: | 21 September 1943 |
| Launched: | 18 December 1943 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Milton F. Pavlic |
| Commissioned: | 29 December 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 November 1946 |
| Reclassified: | From destroyer escort (DE-669) to high-speed transport (APD-70) 27 June 1944 |
| Struck: | 1 April 1967 |
| Honors and awards: |
One battle star for World War II service |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping 1 July 1968 |
| Notes: | Laid down as Buckley-class destroyer escort USS Pavlic (DE-669) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Charles Lawrence-class high-speed transport |
| Displacement: | 1,400 long tons (1,422 t) |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) overall |
| Beam: | 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) maximum |
| Installed power: | 12,000 shaft horsepower (16 megawatts) |
| Propulsion: | Two boilers; two General Electric turbines (turboelectric drive) |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range: | 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 kilometers) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Troops: | 162 |
| Complement: | 186 |
| Armament: | • 1 × 5 in (130 mm) gun • 6 × 40 mm guns • 6 × 20 mm guns • 2 × depth charge tracks |
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USS Pavlic (APD-70), formerly DE-669, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1944 to 1946.
Contents |
[edit] Construction and commissioning
Pavlic was laid down as the Buckley-class destroyer escort USS Pavlic (DE-669) on 21 September 1943 by the Dravo Corporation at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and launched as such on 18 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Milton F. Pavlic. The ship then was towed to Orange, Texas, for fitting out at the Consolidated Shipbuilding Company shipyard. Pavlic was reclassified as a Charles Lawrence-class high-speed transport and redesignated APD-70 on 27 June 1944. After conversion to her new role, she was commissioned at Orange on 29 December 1944 with Lieutenant Commander C. V. Allen, USNR, in command.
[edit] Service history
[edit] World War II
After shakedown off Bermuda and amphibious warfare training at Portsmouth, Virginia, Pavlic departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 February 1945 for World War II service against the Japanese in the Pacific, and steamed via the Panama Canal to San Diego, California, before moving on to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, where she arrived on 21 March 1945. Following training exercises in Hawaii, she departed Pearl Harbor on 13 April 1945 and steamed to Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands. She then stopped at Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands before arriving in the Ryukyu Islands to participate in the Okinawa campaign
From 3 May to 9 May 1945, Pavlic was stationed on the picket line off Okinawa, fighting off several Japanese air raids and performing rescue work. On May 5, 1945 picked up the remains of USS LSM(R)-195 crew man, George J.Ruhlman, sunk by Kamikaze attack on May 4, 1945 of Okinawa.
On the 10 May 1945, she escorted the hospital ship USS Relief (AH-1) to Guam, returning to Hagushi Anchorage off Okinawa on 12 May 1945 to resume patrol work.
On 18 May 1945, Pavlic was designated as a "special rescue vessel" and continued her rescue work while undergoing several heavy Japanese air raids.
On 27 May 1945, Pavlic repelled her first direct Japanese kamikaze suicide attack. On 28 May 1945, she opened fire on a low-flying Japanese Mistubishi G4M "Betty” bomber operating as a torpedo bomber, which veered away. Then Pavlic and her sister ship, the high-speed transport USS Yokes (APD-69), picked up survivors from the destroyer USS Drexler (DD-741), which had been sunk by two suicide planes, and took them to Hagushi Anchorage. On 29 May 1945 she picked up survivors from destroyer USS Shubrick (DD-639), which also had been damaged by a suicide plane.
For the remainder of World War II Pavlic continued to serve in the Pacific war zone, primarily in the Ryukyu Islands.
On 14 August 1945, Pavlic got underway to join the United States Third Fleet off Tokyo, Japan. World War II ended with the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945.
[edit] Postwar
On 18 August 1945, Pavlic made rendezvous with the British Pacific Fleet and took on board a Royal Navy and Royal Marine amphibious landing force from the British light cruiser HMS Newfoundland and the Royal New Zealand Navy light cruiser HMNZS Gambia. On 27 August 1945 she arrived at Honshu, Japan, entering Sagami Bay in the shadow of Mount Fuji, and on the 30 August 1945 she steamed into Tokyo Bay with high-speed transports USS Sims (APD-50) and USS Barr (APD-39), and debarked landing forces to demilitarize and raise the colors over Fort Number 2 and Fort Number 4, guarding the entrance to Tokyo Bay. The landing forces returned, and Pavlic proceeded to Yokosuka Ko.
On 31 August 1945, with L Company of the United States Marine Corps's 4th Marine Regiment embarked, Pavlic made the short run to Tateyama Bay to secure the large Japanese naval air station there and remained there until 3 September 1945 supporting the Marines. On 3 September, after a United States Army occupation regiment relieved them, she reembarked the Marines and returned to Yokosuka Ko. On 9 September 1945, Pavlic was designated as a barracks ship.
On 15 April 1946, Pavlic departed Japan for the United States and, after astop at San Diego and overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Charleston Naval Shipyard at Charleston, South Carolina, was towed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, for inactivation.
[edit] Decommissioning and disposal
Pavlic was decommissioned at Green Cove Springs on 15 November 1946 and placed in the Florida Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on the St. Johns River there. After more than 20 years of inactivity in reserve, she was stricken from the Navy List on 1 April 1967. On 1 July 1968, she was sold for scrapping to North American Smelting Company.
[edit] Honors and awards
Pavlic received one battle star for her World War II service in the Okinawa campaign.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- usspavlik.org
- NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive USS Pavlic (APD-70)
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