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Here is some information on some ships I have a special
fondness for. The following are links to web sites on these ships.
USS Belle Grove
LSD-2
USS Algol
LKA-54 (AKA-54)
USNS Wheeling TAGM-8
Information on the USS Belle Grove LSD-2
Belle Grove, in King George County, Va., was the birthplace of President
James Madison.
(LSD-2: dp. 4490; l. 457'9"; b. 72'2"; dr. 18'; s. 15.4 k.; cpl.
326; a. 1 5"; cl. Ashland)
Belle Grove (LSD-2) was launched 17 February 1943 by Moore Dry Dock
Co., Oakland, Calif.; sponsored by Mrs. George M. Lowry, wife of Lieutenant
Commander Lowry, USNR; and commissioned 9 August 1943, Lieutenant Commander M.
Seavey, USNR, in command.
Reporting to the Pacific Fleet Belle Grove participated in the Gilbert
Islands operation (20 November-2 December 1943) and the seizure of Kwajalein,
Marshall Islands (31 January-8 February 1944). Returning to Pearl Harbor, Belle
Grove operated as a cargo vessel until May, visiting the Solomon, New
Hebrides, Admiralty, and Russell Islands. Between 15 June and 28 July 1944 she
took part in the capture and occupation of Saipan and Tinian, Marianas Islands.
After an overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Belle Grove assisted in the Leyte
operation, making three voyages between Hollandia and Leyte loaded with troops,
landing craft, and other equipment (20 October-21 November 1944). On 9 January
1945 she landed troops and equipment at Lingayen Gulf and returned to Leyte. She
then steamed to Saipan to load supplies for the forthcoming invasion of Iwo Jima.
Off Iwo Jima from 19 February to 20 March 1945, Belle Grove provided
logistic support and served as a floating dry dock for landing craft.
Returning to Pearl Harbor she underwent a yard period and then transported
landing craft between the Marshall, Marianas, and Philippine Islands. With the
cessation of hostilities, Belle Grove continued on transportation duty in
the Southwest and Western Pacific. During November and December she transported
occupation troops to China and Japan and returned to San Diego 31 December 1945.
Soon afterwards, she began pre-inactivation overhaul and on 30 August 1946 went
out of commission in reserve.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, Belle Grove was
readied for active duty. She was recommissioned 27 December 1950 and reported to
the Pacific Fleet. Belle Grove continued serving with the Pacific Fleet
until departing San Diego 16 April 1951 for Norfolk, Va. She operated with the
Atlantic Fleet, making one Mediterranean cruise (8 January-22 May 1952), during
the next two years. Leaving Norfolk 9 April 1953 she rejoined the Pacific Fleet
for operations out of Seattle, Wash., and San Diego, Calif. Although operating
mostly in Alaskan waters Belle Grove also served in the Central Pacific
and made one Far Eastern cruise.
Belle Grove received seven battle stars for her World War II service.
Information about USS Algol LKA-54 (AKA-54)
Algol
A fixed star in the constellation Perseus. It varies periodically in brightness
because of eclipses by a satellite.
(AKA-54: dp. 13,910 (tl.), 1. 459'2"; b. 63'0"; dr. 26'4" (lim.),
s. 16.5 k. (tl.), cpl. 429, a. 1 5", 8 40mm., 18 20mm., cl.
Andromeda; T. C2-S-B1)
Algol (AKA-54) was laid down on 10 December 1942 at Oakland Calit, by the Moore
Dry Dock Co. under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1153) as SS James
Barnes; launched on 17 February 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. A. McKeown, renamed
Algol on 30 August 1943, placed in reduced commission on 27 November 1943 for
the voyage to the Willamette Shipyard in Portland, Oreg., decommissioned there
on 3 December 1943 converted to an attack cargo ship, and placed in full
commission on 21 July 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Axton T. Jones,'USNR, in command.
Algol completed shakedown training along the California coast by 3 September.
She then put into Oakland and began loading cargo. She departed Oakland on 4
October bound for the western Pacific. Steaming via Eniwetok Atoll, she arrived
at Saipan in the Marianas late in October. After unloading her cargo at Saipan
Algol got underway for New Guinea on 31 October. The attack cargo ship put into
Hollandia on 6 November and remained there two days before pushing on to Noumea,
New Caledonia, where she stopped between 24 November and 17 December. On 17
December, Algol headed for Guadalcanal where she participated in landing
exercises in preparation for the assault on Luzon at Lingayen Gulf. At the end
of the year, she moved up to the staging area at Manus in the Admiralty
Islands.
On 2 January 1945, the attack cargo ship put to sea as an element of Task Unit (TU)
78.11.7. Along the way, many reports came in of submarines, torpedoes, and
unidentified aircraft. However, no verified attacks occurred. Algol and her
colleagues arrived safely in Lingayen Gulf on 11 January. Her boats and boat
crews went immediately to help unload SS President Monroe. The attack transport
began her own unloading the following day. She completed cargo operations on 13
January and got underway for Leyte on the 15th. During that voyage, she also
towed SS President Monroe which had suffered a main propulsion plant casualty.
The two ships arrived in San Pedro Bay on 20 January. There, she immediately
began loading for a second invasion of Luzon. When she arrived off the coast of
Zambales province on the western coast of Luzon just north of Subic Bay she and
the other ships found things very peaceful. And so it was. The entire area was
in the friendly hands of Filipino guerrillas. The pre-landing bombardment was
cancelled, and troops and cargo moved ashore easily.
Upon her return to Leyte on 3 February, Algol spent about six weeks catching up
on minor ship repairs and her crew enjoyed more frequent liberty. By mid-March,
however, it was time to get back in the war, and she began preparations for the
assault on the Ryukyu Islands. On 27 March, the attack cargo ship departed Leyte
with cargo and elements of the 184th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 7th Infantry
Division, embarked She arrived off Okinawa early in the morning of I April and
began unloading soon after the invasion started. That night, instead of retiring
with the other transports and cargo ships Algol moved into the inner transport
area to serve as a tender for the landing craft.
The ship remained at Okinawa until 10 April at which time she shaped a course
for Guam in company with TU 51.29.12. From Guam, Algol continued east to Hawaii
and thence to San Diego, Calif., where she arrived on 4 May. A three-week
availability
followed. On 28 May, the attack cargo ship embarked upon a voyage to Hawaii,
from which she returned to the west coast at San Francisco on 18 June. She put
to sea once again on 6 July bound for the western Pacific. After stops at
Eniwetok and Ulithi en route, the ship arrived at Kerama Retto off Okinawa on 9
September. From there, she moved down to the northern Solomons, arriving at Cape
Torokina, Bougainville, on 4 October. There, she loaded cargo and equipment for
Marine Air Group (MAG) 25 for transportation to China. Algol arrived in Tsingtao,
China, early in November, unloaded her cargo, and departed that port at the end
of the third week in November.
For the next two years, she carried passengers and cargo between various points
in China, Japan, the islands of the central and western Pacific as well as to
and from ports on the west coast of the United States. In July 1947, she was
placed in commission, in reserve, preparatory to decommissioning However, during
the inactivation process, the attack cargo ship was ordered back to active
service. By late summer of 1949, she was back in full commission operating out
of Little Creek Va., under Commander, Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet. Near
the end of August, Algol embarked elements of the 7th Marine Division at
Morehead City N. C., and sailed for the Mediterranean Sea. After visiting a
number of ports along the shores of that sea and conducting operations with
American naval forces in the area, the attack cargo ship returned to Norfolk in
February of 1950.
In August of 1950, Just weeks after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, she
was transferred to the Pacific. The ship embarked elements of the 1st Marine
Division at San Diego and set sail for Kobe, Japan, on 31 August. Algol arrived
in Kobe on 16 September but put to sea again the following day to join in the
Inchon invasion. The initial assault at Inchon had gone forward the day before
Algol's arrival in Japan. Her mission, therefore was one of resupply and
reinforcement. She remained at Inchon unloading, from 21 to 27 September. On the
latter day, the attack cargo ship headed back to Japan.
Algol returned to Inchon on X October and embarked Headquarters Company, 1st
Ordnance Battalion, 1st Marine Division for what was to have been an amphibious
assault at Wonsan on the northwestern coast of Korea. However, United Nations
(UN) naval gunfire and air activity forced the North Koreans back from the
coastal plain into the highlands. This enabled Republic of Korea forces ashore
to move northward and occupy Wonsan themselves. UN troops, therefore, landed
unopposed during the last week in October. Following that, the ship returned to
Japan and remained there until early December.
At that time, the Chinese communists intervened massively and sent the UN forces
reeling southward. Algol went to Chinnampo where she assisted in the evacuation
of UN troops during the first week in December. The following week, she moved to
Inchon to help evacuate troops at that location. Those operations lasted until
the beginning of the second seek in January of 1951. For the next two months,
the attack cargo shin visited a number of ports in both Japan and Korea. Early
in March, she participated in an amphibious feint at Chinnampo and then headed
back to Japan. In late April and early May, Algol visited Hong Kong. There, she
embarked the British 28th Brigade and transported it to Inchon. After that
mission, she returned to Japan where she conducted amphibious exercises until 17
June. On that day, the ship shaped a course back to the United States. She
arrived in San Diego Calif, on 30 June.
Between July 1951 an] March 1952, she conducted training missions along the
coast of southern California and between there and the Hawaiian Islands. She
completed a yard period in Pearl Harbor in March 1952 and put to sea on her way
to the Far East. She arrived in Japan late that month and took part in
amphibious exercises off the island of Hokkaido. Algol visited Yokosuka early in
April and from there, moved to Hong Kong for a two-week port call. May brought a
visit to Subic Bay in the Philippines followed by more training exercises at
Otaru, Japan. Exercises with units of the 7th Fleet punctuated by visits to a
number of Oriental ports occupied her time for most of the remainder of 1952. By
December, the attack cargo ship was on her way back to the west coast. She
arrived in Long Beach, Calif., on 15 December 1952.
Training and amphibious exercises—broken only by a repair period at the Todd
Shipyard at Alameda, Calif., that summer— filled her time throughout the year
1953 and into the second month of 1954. On l9 February 1954, Algol departed the
west coast bound for Japan. She entered port at Yokosuka on 9 March. In April,
the ship participated in exercises at Iwo Jima, and June brought another series
of exercises at Okinawa. The usual round of port visits and exercises followed.
Earlv in August, she concluded a two-week visit at Hong Kong and headed—via
Subic Bay—to Tourane and Haiphong in North Vietnam. At those ports, the attack
cargo ship embarked non-communist refugees and carried them south to Saigon in
South Vietnam. this operation, "Passage to Freedom," came on the heels
of the defeat of the French by the Viet Minh and the division of the Vietnamese
portion of Indochina into the communist north and the republican south. She made
three voyages between the north and the south by 12 September at which time she
headed back to Yokosuka. On 21 September, Algol shaped a course back to the
United States. She entered San Francisco, Calif., on 7 October 1954.
Later that month, she moved south to her new home port, San Diego. Normal west
coast operations, including a series of amphibious exercises, carried her
through the remainder of 1954 and well into 1955. In August 1955, the attack
cargo ship entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a regular overhaul. She
completed repairs in November and, after refresher training out of San Diego,
resumed normal operations out of her home port. That occupation lasted a little
more than two years. On 2January 1958, she was decommissioned and assigned to
the Bremerton Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Algol was recommissioned on 17 November 1961 at the Northwest Marine Iron
Works at Portland, Oreg., Capt. F. L. Edwards in command. After shakedown
training out of San Diego, the attack cargo ship departed that port on 12
January 1962 on her way to duty with the Atlantic Fleet. She was assigned to
Amphibious Group (PhibGru) 2, Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 4, Atlantic Fleet,
and spent most of 1962 operating in the West Indies. Notable among her
assignments in the fall of 1962 was as a support unit for the
"quarantine" of Cuba imposed by President John F. Kennedy during the
1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Algol spent the remaining seven years of her Navy career operating primarily
along the east coast of the United States and the West Indies. That duty
consisted almost solely of amphibious warfare training in conjunction with
marines. The only break in that schedule of operations came at the end of the
summer of 1964. At that time, the attack cargo ship deployed to the
Mediterranean Sea to participate in the massive amphibious exercise Operation
"Steel Pike 1." By early 1965, she returned to more familiar waters
and spent the remaining years of her career operating along the eastern seaboard
and in the West Indies. During that period, on 1 January 1969, the attack cargo
ship was re-designated an amphibious cargo ship and was assigned the hull
designation LKA 54. Algol was decommissioned on 23 July 1970 and was transferred
to the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River,
Va. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1977.
Algol earned two battle stars during World War 11 and five battle stars for
service in the Korean conflict.
Information about USNS Wheeling TAGM-8
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
National Defense Service Medal
T-AGM-8: dp. 11,500; l. 455.3'; b. 62.2'; dr. 28.6'; s. 17.0 k.; cpl. 56; cl.
Range Tracker; t. VC2-S-AP3)
The second Wheeling was laid down on 10 April 1945 as Seton Hall Victory by
the Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. under a Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull
686); launched on 22 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Ross McIntyre; and delivered to
the Maritime Commission on 21 June 1945. from July 1945 to September 1957, Seton
Hall Victory was operated for the Maritime Commission by a succession of
civilian contractors, beginning with the Olympic Steamship Line and ending with
Pope & Talbot, Inc. In September 1957, she was placed out of service and was
berthed in Virginia's James River with the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Late in 1962, she was turned over to the Navy Department for conversion to a
range instrumentation ship. On 19 March 1963, she was renamed Wheeling and
designated AGM-8. On 28 May 1964, Wheeling was assigned to the Military Sea
Transportation Service to be operated by a civil service crew in support of
operations on the Navy's Pacific Missile Range. She has spent the intervening
years as a mobile tracking station recording data on missiles and satellites
that were out of range of land-based stations. As of 1 April 1978, Wheeling
continued in active service on the Pacific coast.
T-AGM-8 Wheeling was placed for "experimental use" on 1 July 1982;
stricken from the Naval Vessels Register on 31 Oct. 1990.
Wheeling Class Missile Range Instrumentation
Ship:
- Laid down, 10 April 1945, as Seton Hall Victory, a Maritime
Commission type (VC2-S-AP3), hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCV
hull 686) at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR.
- Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 21 June 1945
- Acquired by the Navy in 1962
- Assigned to MSTS and placed in service as the Missile Range
Instrumentation Ship, USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8), 28 May 1964
- Placed out of service, (~1981)
- Specifications:
Displacement 4,512 t.(lt) 11,500t.(fl)
Length 455' 3"
Beam 62' 2"
Draft 28' 6"
Speed 15.5 kts.
Complement 56
Propulsion cross compound steam turbine, single screw,
8,500shp
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