USS Clearfield

USS Clearfield (APA-142) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1973.

History
United States
Name	USS Clearfield
Namesake	Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Builder	California Shipbuilding
Launched	21 November 1944
Commissioned	12 January 1945
Decommissioned	4 March 1946
Honors and awards	1 Battle star
Fate	Sold for scrap, 9 April 1973
General characteristics
Class and type	Haskell-class attack transport
Displacement	6,873 tons (lt), 14,837 t (fl)
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	24 ft (7 m)
Propulsion	1 × geared turbine, 2 × header-type boilers, 1 × propeller, designed 8,500 shp (6,338 kW)
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × LCM 12 × LCVP 3 × LCPL
Capacity	Troops: 86 officers, 1,475 enlisted Cargo: 150,000 cu ft, 2,900 tons
Complement	56 officers, 480 enlisted
Armament	1 × 5"/38 dual-purpose gun 4 × twin 40 mm guns 10 × single 20 mm guns late armament, add 1 × 40 mm quad mount

History

Clearfield was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5 and was named after Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. She was launched 21 November 1944 by California Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. F. L. Chambers; acquired by the Navy 11 January 1945; and commissioned 12 January 1945.

Clearfield loaded construction battalion troops and cargo at Port Hueneme, California, and departed 9 March 1945 for Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Ulithi and Okinawa, where she arrived 17 April, to disembark her passengers and their equipment at Ie Shima, to build an airfield.

She sailed from Okinawa 26 April to load Army replacements at San Francisco and transported these troops to Manila, arriving 23 June. After moving occupation troops among the Philippine Islands, Clearfield departed Manila 27 August for Tokyo, where she landed soldiers 2 September.

From 4 September 1945 Clearfield operated between Okinawa and Manila and ports in China, supporting the reoccupation of northern China by transporting Marines and Chinese troops. She got underway for Tacoma, Washington, 2 December, and after overhaul, sailed to Norfolk, arriving 4 February 1946. Clearfield was decommissioned 4 March 1946, and returned to the War Shipping Administration 6 March 1946.

Fate

Ex-Clearfield was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River, Virginia. Between 2 September and 27 October 1955 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet for a Repair Program, GAA- Polarus, and returned. Ex-Clearfield was sold for $111,560 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corporation for scrapping on 9 April 1973. At 1440 EDT, on 7 September 1973 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and sent to the breaker's yard.

Awards

Clearfield received one battle star for World War II service.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.