USS Cullman

USS Cullman (APA-78) was a Gilliam-class attack transport that served with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1965.

USS Cullman underway in San Francisco Bay, California, late 1945 or early 1946, bringing home troops in Operation Magic Carpet
History
United States
Name	USS Cullman
Namesake	Cullman County, Alabama
Builder	Consolidated Steel
Launched	17 November 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. G. E. Kenyon
Acquired	24 January 1944
Commissioned	25 January 1945
Decommissioned	22 May 1946
Identification	APA-78
Fate	Sold for scrap, August 1965
General characteristics
Class and type	Gilliam-class attack transport
Displacement	4,247 tons (lt), 7,080 t.(fl)
Length	426 ft (130 m)
Beam	58 ft (18 m)
Draft	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	Westinghouse turboelectric drive, 2 boilers, 2 propellers, Design shaft horsepower 6,000
Speed	16.9 knots (31.3 km/h; 19.4 mph)
Capacity	47 officers, 802 enlisted
Crew	27 officers, 295 enlisted
Armament	1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount 4 x twin 40 mm gun mounts 10 x single 20 mm gun mounts
Notes	MCV hull No. ?, hull type S4-SE2-BD1

History

Cullman was named after a county in Alabama. She was launched 17 November 1944 by Consolidated Steel at Wilmington, Los Angeles, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the navy 24 January 1945; and commissioned the next day.

Departing San Francisco 23 March 1945, Cullman arrived at Pearl Harbor 29 March and operated in training and inter-island transport duties until 6 July when she sailed for San Diego. Embarking troops and cargo, Cullman sailed 20 July for calls at Eniwetok and Ulithi on her way to Batangas Bay, Luzon, arriving shortly after the end of hostilities on 20 August. She loaded occupation troops, landed her army passengers at Tokyo Bay from 2 to 4 September, and arrived at Okinawa 7 September.

Transporting occupation troops

Cullman made one voyage to Guam, then landed US Marines at Taku Bar, China, for the reoccupation of northern China between 30 September and 6 October. Sailing by way of Manila, she lifted Chinese troops from Hong Kong to Taku and Qingdao in two voyages from 24 October to 21 November.

Operation Magic Carpet

Cullman then joined Operation Magic Carpet, the giant operation tasked with bringing returning servicemen home to the United States for discharge. She embarked homeward-bound servicemen at Manila for San Francisco, arriving 16 December 1945. She made a second voyage to Okinawa between 10 January and 15 February 1946.

Decommissioning

Cullman then returned to San Francisco where she was decommissioned on 22 May 1946 and transferred to the War Shipping Administration 30 June 1946 for disposal. She was sold for scrap in August 1965.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• APA-78 Cullman, Navsource Online.