The Wilmington morning star., 1944-12-03
AKA ship LAuDED
As FIGHTING UNIT
49, ALLEN J. GREEN
star-N'ews Washington
correspondent

,c,,1NGTON, Dec. 2. - Manu-
FA 'ssr. representatives and gov
tctul.n[+ officials, who recently
erfle 4l,o DAYS and a night aboard
G tsIa,.,;,,[,Gineton-built AKA training
E Gls.la,sa6eake bay. couldn't find
b CneS@ n,ords to express their ad-
eSlssin ar "" of the AKA as a fighting
t1l' ... Of the cruise, at tn e
Pul VI. i,vitation, was to allow the
nvgs Of the manufacture
r'PFes1l-nr oduce equipment for the
Is s WIZ ~ see how it worked in ac-
AA M. NJ to report back to fellow
t' 5s,s sr as production incentive;
Fsfse sn,oent agencies represented
GNs'-+ +be Maritime Commission
we're . The War Production Board.
aa AKA they visited (Which was
The ,saa A fo.' security reasons)
tot la 1ssnrncbed at the yards of the
r's 81 lI rsrolina shipbuilding compa-
So';n IN September and brought to
.! IL oote bav so that her Navy
Cnes'p; inst out of training camps
crew. w,rtolk. could learn to handle
D. j.. Ng The vessel is designed as half
tsf, + invasion team. The
o. a . ~" a number Of infantry
ANA s:. 20 craft or her decks and the
s ,2ar,4e crew TO man them, plus tons
NAVY ..-so designed for use in the
Of . ss5sY The APA, the companion
H .,.,,sl carries the troops them
Vs e;'s, Both arc built on CO type
h1 -s. INSPECTION party was trans
., l,s by by the Navy to the huge
e e0ira Island Amphibious Train
~: svl' nsntpr ard after a tour OF the
s ts '' where sailors are trained for
i pass was taken by water tax
1 rt @t to where the AKA was lying
at anchor
Al NJ the AKA's landing craft
ware in the water, maneuverlng
wand the mother vessel to &C
" a. tbe crews to handling them.
rho marty of sc wa welcomed
trd hv Commander H. 0. Gold
s srith USN, VINO took command of
.ba vessel at Wilmington, and bro
tsn IN into smaller parties so that
s,ch manufacturers representative
c1rI inspect the part of the vessel
IN which his equipment was used.
Late in the afternoon, the group
watched the sailors bring the land
nv craft back aboard the big AKA.
Rooms we're swung over the side
md the largest landing crafts were
brought aboard and stored in spe-
cislly.designed cradles fore and aft.
Then smaller LCI's, which fit into
t1e wells Of the larger, were stored.
Finally. the landing craft for Off
Gers directing the invasion were
swung from davits on either side
Of the bridge, like Efeboats.
Captain Goldsmith explained to
Ike group that in an actual inva-
sim fhe AKA and the APA would
anchor off the enemy coast a d
swing around ST that their deck
guns could join the bombardment,
il necessary. While antiaircraft
uews aboard both vessels watch
cd for enemy planes, t h AKA
would put its ICTs in the water,
load troops from the APA, and take
them in from the assault. After
4 beachhead is won, the supplies
from the AKA can then be ferried
in.
The inspecting party spent the
night in the crews quarters with
he 4OO blueJackets 1t accomno-
oates to man the LCps. The next
day the AKA cruised down the
bay first at three-quarter speed,
tfen at full speed. The days ma
relVerS concluded with all antiair-
craft guns aboard ship firing mad
Y at target sleeve towed by a
Navy tWo'engineG plane.
Two months ago I was in New
Guinea" Capt. Goldsmith told the
group, Five weeks ago this ship
s'S launched, Three days ago
'iese sailors were still in boot
camp. Now here we are all to-
seher training for one hell of a
lob-and we'll do it."