USS Yancey ( AKA - 93 ) USS " Yancey " ( AKA - 93 / LKA - 93 ) was an built by the Moore Dry Dock Company of Oakland , California for the United States Navy during World War II . The ship was named in honor of Yancey County , North Carolina . " Yancey " s keel was laid in May 1944 , and the ship was launched in July , and commissioned in October . The ship operated in the Pacific during the war and was a participant in the amphibious landings at Iwo Jima in February 1945 and Okinawa in April . After Japan ' s surrender in August , " Yancey " was in Tokyo Bay during the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September . The ship made voyages delivering troops for the occupation of Japan before returning to the United States in January 1946 . After spending most of the next year on the east coast , " Yancey " was ordered back into the Pacific in November , and took part in Operation Highjump , a Navy expedition to Antarctica in January 1947 ; Yancey Glacier was named in the ship ' s honor . After spending most of the next decade in duties in the Western Pacific , " Yancey " was decommission ed in March 1958 and placed in reserve at Olympia , Washington . " Yancey " was reactivated in the aftermath of the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and recommissioned in November . During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis she sailed in support of the U . S . blockade of Cuba , and during the April 1965 U . S . intervention in the Dominican Republic she carried almost a quarter of all of the evacuees from Santo Domingo . In January 1970 , " Yancey " was blown by a storm into the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - Tunnel which closed the structure for several weeks . The ship was decommissioned for the final time in January 1971 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1977 . After being striped of salvageable materials , the ship was sunk as an artificial reef off the North Carolina coast in 1990 . The ship is intact and rests on her starboard side at a depth of . Design and construction . " Yancey " was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1193 ) on 22 May 1944 by the Moore Dry Dock Company at Oakland , California . The ship was launched on 8 July 1944 and was sponsored by Miss Beverly Bartlett . As built , " Yancey " was just over long and abeam . When fully loaded she had a displacement of and drew a little more than . She was powered by a single steam turbine capable of generating , and attained a top speed of during her trials . " Yancey " was equipped to carry eight LCMs ( " Landing Craft Mechanized " ) , which were designed to land vehicles in amphibious landings ; one LCP ( L ) ( " Landing Craft , Personnel ( Large ) " ) ; and fifteen LCVP s ( " Landing Craft , Vehicle , Personnel " ) , or Higgins boats . " Yancey " was outfitted with primarily defensive weapons : one / 38 caliber dual - purpose gun mount , ; four twin anti - aircraft ( AA ) gun mounts ; and sixteen AA gun mounts . World War II . The ship was commissioned as USS " Yancey " ( AKA - 93 ) on 11 October 1944 under the command of Commander Edward R . Rice , USNR . After fitting out at San Francisco , California , " Yancey " received her boat group of 26 landing craft and conducted a shakedown cruise out of San Pedro , California . After post - shakedown alterations and repairs at San Diego , California , she sailed for San Francisco to load cargo from 18 to 24 November . " Yancey " sailed for Pearl Harbor the next day , and was assigned to Transport Division ( TransDiv ) 47 , Transport Squadron ( TransRon ) 16 upon her arrival on 2 December . Iwo Jima . After remaining at Pearl Harbor until 27 January 1945 , " Yancey " departed for the Marianas with elements and cargo of the 5th Marine Division as part of Task Group ( TG ) 51 . 12 in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima . After stops for fuel and supplies at Eniwetok and invasion rehearsals at Tinian , the ship arrived off Iwo Jima at 06 : 24 on 19 February , D - day for the initial landing . During almost continuous operations for the first four days of the battle , " Yancey " only lost two landing craft ( LCVP s ) : one to enemy mortar fire , and another to heavy surf . " Yancey " received minor damage when she collided with while transferring ammunition to the heavy cruiser . On 29 February , after the tactical situation ashore had improved sufficiently , " Yancey " anchored off " Red " beach to unload her general cargo . During this time the ship was hit by one long - range mortar shell , but suffered no casualties among her crew . Slowed by nightly air raids , and high surf that required cargo to be offloaded to LSTs , LSMs , and LCTs , " Yancey " completed her unloading on 2 March . The cargo ship sailed with three other transports and a pair of screening destroyers to Saipan and then to Espiritu Santo , where she rejoined her TransRon 16 squadron mates in embarking the 27th Infantry Division . Okinawa . " Yancey " sailed on 25 March as a part of TG 51 . 3 , the designated " mobile reserve " for the invasion of Okinawa . As the group headed for a planned stop in the Carolines , " Yancey " took a disabled LSM under tow and delivered the vessel to Ulithi . TransDiv 47 was detached from TG 51 . 3 and arrived off Kerama Retto on 9 April , eight days after the battle had commenced . After receiving her orders , " Yancey " anchored off the Hagushi beaches on the 12th . During her four days of unloading , the crew was hampered by Japanese air raids and delayed — according to the ship ' s commander — over 15 hours because of the attacks . " Yancey " s number four mount claimed a " sure assist " on a Nakajima Ki - 43 " Oscar " fighter that crashed from the ship . Despite delays caused by the air attacks , " Yancey " was the first attack cargo ship of her group to finish unloading , and sailed independently for the Marianas on the 16th . During her stay off the Okinawa beaches , the ship lost none of her boats and suffered three casualties : two men were wounded by shrapnel , and another broke an arm . After a short rest - and - recreation stop at Guam , " Yancey " rejoined her squadron at Ultihi and underwent boiler repairs and intensive antiaircraft training ; her crew won numerous five - case " beer prizes " for shooting down target sleeves . Getting underway again on 8 May , " Yancey " spent the next two months shuttling men and materiel from rear area bases , calling at Manus in the Admiralty Islands ; Finschhafen , New Guinea ; Tulagi ; Hollandia , Dutch New Guinea ; and finally Guiuan , on the island of Samar , in the Philippines . She rejoined TransDiv 47 , TransRon 16 , at San Pedro Bay , Leyte Gulf , on 16 July and sailed with the rest of the division to Iloilo , on the island of Panay , to conduct amphibious training exercises with the United States Army ' s 43rd Infantry Division . " Yancey " was in the Philippines when word of the Japanese surrender came in on 15 August . TransDiv 47 took on provisions at Iloilo after training exercises for the planned invasion of Japan were cancelled ; after arriving at Batangas , Luzon , Philippines , she embarked elements of the 1st Cavalry Division slated for the occupation of Japan . After completing the loading process on 23 August , " Yancey " weighed anchor on the 25th as a member of Task Force ( TF ) 33 . However , the ships had to turn back because of a tropical storm in the vicinity . The typhoon delayed the task force for only a day , as the ships weathered the fringes of the storm at Subic Bay before again getting underway soon thereafter . " Yancey " entered Tokyo Bay on the morning of 2 September , the day Japan signed the formal articles of surrender on the deck of the battleship anchored there . Shortly after the conclusion of those ceremonies , the attack cargo ship headed into Yokohama harbor , the third ship in her squadron to enter that port and the first to start unloading . The ship completed her unloading in 19 hours and then proceeded to an anchorage off Yokohama . During her World War II service , " Yancey " was awarded two battle star s . Post war . " Yancey " s squadron departed on 4 September 1945 and steamed via Leyte Gulf to Zamboanga . There , they commenced loading elements of the Army ' s 41st Infantry Division from 16 to 18 September . " Yancey " and her sisters shifted soon thereafter to Bugo , Mindanao , where she picked up Army LCMs . After TG 54 . 28 had assembled in Leyte Gulf on 21 September , the group — which included " Yancey " — sailed for Japan ' s Inland Sea . Due to minesweeping difficulties , however , the landings scheduled for the Kure – Hiroshima area were postponed ; and the task group sailed instead for Buckner Bay , Okinawa . On 28 September , the ship put to sea to evade another typhoon . On 1 October , she returned and anchored in Buckner Bay . Two days later , " Yancey " again headed for Japanese waters and entered Bungo Suido on the 5th , beginning the long , difficult passage up the Inland Sea along the channel swept through the minefields . The next morning — after spending the night anchored in the cleared channel — " Yancey " headed for Hiro Wan , where the landings were made . The ship completed her unloading in 48 hours . On 9 October , she was detached from TransRon 16 and reported to CinCPac for assignment . The following day , " Yancey " rode out a third typhoon with of chain on deck , a second anchor ready to go , and steam at the throttle . The attack cargo ship , remaining behind when the rest of her squadron was sent back to the United States on 11 October , headed instead to Haiphong , French Indochina to embark Chinese troops . After an 11 - day delay , 1 , 027 officers and men of the 471st Regiment , 62nd Chinese Army — and one interpreter — boarded the American vessel for passage to Takao , Formosa . After arrival , the Chinese troops had all been offloaded by 17 : 00 on 17 November . After sailing to Manila , " Yancey " received orders to proceed to the United States on 25 November , one year to the day she had sailed from San Francisco . " Yancey " took on a capacity load of Army and Navy men returning to the United States for discharge and departed Manila harbor on 27 November . During the voyage , she flew a " homeward - bound pennant " adorned with 27 stars . After a stop at Pearl Harbor for boiler repairs and to offload her Army passengers , " Yancey " sailed for Balboa , Panama Canal Zone , reaching there on the last day of the year ; she was the last ship to transit the Panama Canal in 1945 . On 6 January 1946 , " Yancey " cleared Cristobal , Canal Zone , bound for Louisiana . After a brief stop at New Orleans , the attack cargo ship proceeded on , via Jacksonville , Florida , to Norfolk , where she arrived on 29 January . Less than a month later , on 27 February , " Yancey " sailed farther north and reached the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard the following day . Over the next few months , " Yancey " underwent a regular overhaul there and then operated off the eastern seaboard and into the western Atlantic . During that time , she called at Bayonne , New Jersey ; Bermuda ; San Juan , Puerto Rico ; Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; Balboa , Canal Zone ; Jacksonville , Florida ; and made return calls at Norfolk , Bayonne , and Bermuda . In addition , the ship visited the New York Naval Shipyard and Davisville , Rhode Island , before being assigned tentatively to TF 68 effective on 9 November . Operation Highjump . In compliance with her new orders , " Yancey " proceeded back to the west coast , sailing via Cristobal and the Panama Canal . After arriving at San Pedro , California , " Yancey " reported for duty with TF 68 and was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet s Service Force and homeported at San Francisco , on 11 November . The next day , she shifted to Port Hueneme , California , where she began loading cargo for Operation Highjump , the U . S . Navy expedition to Antarctica . Departing Port Hueneme on 2 December , " Yancey " pressed southward , headed for Antarctica , and spent Christmas at sea . Two days later , she saw her first icebergs — visible evidence that she was entering the polar latitudes . She sighted the northern limit of the Antarctic pack ice on the 28th and spent the next two days investigating ice conditions . She fueled from south of Scott Island , Antarctica , purportedly becoming the first ship to conduct an underway refueling below the Antarctic Circle . After threading her way through the pack ice over the ensuing weeks , " Yancey " finally arrived at Bay of Whales , Antarctica , mooring at the shelf ice on 18 January 1947 . Subsequently departing that " port " on 6 February for the area to the north of the ice floes , the attack cargo ship entered the pack ice on the 9th . Over the next three days , she pressed through the floes that extended for a width of almost . On 13 February , " Yancey " joined TU 68 . 1 . 2 which also included the Coast Guard icebreaker , , towing the attack cargo ship . Within a week , the ships were riding out a fierce storm that justified — at least to " Yancey " sailors — the Antarctic ' s title as " The World ' s Stormiest Sea " . " Yancey " reached Port Chalmers , New Zealand , on 22 February and departed that port on 5 March , bound for Samoa . Subsequently departing Pago Pago on 27 March bound for Hawaii with in tow , the attack cargo ship arrived at Pearl Harbor on 14 April . She soon got underway for the west coast of the United States and reached Port Hueneme on 2 May 1947 . There , Yancey disembarked a unit of a construction battalion ( " Seabees " ) and discharged TF 68 cargo . Her duty with TF 68 thus completed on 15 May , " Yancey " reported for duty with Service Division ( ServDiv ) 12 . Shortly thereafter , " Yancey " shifted to San Pedro before heading to Terminal Island , California , for restricted availability on 20 May . After that period of repairs and alterations , Yancey returned to Port Hueneme to load cargo earmarked for shipment to Pearl Harbor and Guam . Korean War . Over the next decade , " Yancey " operated between west coast ports and advanced bases in the Western Pacific ( WestPac ) , including ports in Japan , Korea , and the Philippines . During that period , she also supported United Nations ( UN ) actions in Korea , operating in support of the initial attempts to fight the North Korean advance ; in the first UN counteroffensives in early 1951 ; and in the final phases of activity that preceded the armistice in the summer of 1953 . " Yancey " was awarded three battle stars for her Korean War service . In December 1957 , after having served continuously since 1944 , " Yancey " was deactivated at San Francisco . She was placed out of commission in March 1958 , and entered the Reserve Fleet at Olympia , Washington , on 11 October 1960 . Recommissioning . In the aftermath of the Berlin Crisis of 1961 , " Yancey " was reactivated as part of President John F . Kennedy ' s bid to build up the U . S . Navy . On 17 November 1961 , " Yancey " was recommissioned at Portland , Oregon , with Captain Gordon R . Keating in command . The ship departed from San Diego on 12 January 1962 and reached Norfolk , her new assigned home port , on 2 February , there becoming the newest member of Amphibious Squadron ( PhibRon ) 12 . Over the next months , " Yancey " took part in a variety of exercises and maneuvers . " Yancey " participated in Operation Phiblex in the spring of 1962 , operating off Roosevelt Roads and Vieques , Puerto Rico . She later paid a port call at Charlotte Amalie , St . Thomas , Virgin Islands , before she returned to Roosevelt Roads and reloaded equipment and embarked Marines slated to return to Morehead City , North Carolina . Subsequently returning to Norfolk on 2 May , " Yancey " touched briefly at Charleston , South Carolina , to take on additional landing craft before returning to the Tidewater region to spend the remainder of May . Subsequently visiting Boston , and Rockland , Maine , " Yancey " participated in amphibious boat exercises at Provincetown , Massachusetts , before she got underway on 24 July for Davisville , Rhode Island . There , she loaded a Seabee unit and their equipment and headed eastward , bound for Rota , Spain . Offloading one Seabee unit and onloading another , " Yancey " then paused briefly at Gibraltar before touching at Lisbon on the return leg of her voyage to the United States . Disembarking the seabees and unloading their equipment at Davisville , " Yancey " headed back to Norfolk , reaching her homeport on 18 August 1962 . On 17 October , " Yancey " again sailed from Norfolk and proceeded to Morehead City , to load marines and equipment for Operation PhiBrigLex ( Amphibious Brigade Exercises ) slated for Vieques , Puerto Rico . Upon arrival , the attack cargo ship loaded immediately and set out to join the rest of the ships in the squadron . She soon was fighting her way through Hurricane Ella which caused her to alter her course to avoid the most severe part of the storm . Cuban Missile Crisis and Dominican Republic operations . On 23 October 1962 , President Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba in response to the presence of Soviet missiles on the soil of that island nation . " Yancey " sortied in support of the American operations in the Caribbean , and remained on station until the missiles were removed and tensions were relaxed . Over the next few years , " Yancey " made regular deployments to the Mediterranean to take part in joint exercises with NATO forces . In April 1965 , " Yancey " was ordered to the Dominican Republic to support Operation Power Pack , the code name for the United States ' intervention in the Dominican Republic . The attack cargo ship arrived at Santo Domingo , the capital city , on 30 April . " Yancey " loaded nearly 600 evacuees from 21 nations . Among those on board the ship were the daughter of William Tapley Bennett Jr . , the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic ; the Belgian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic ; sixteen nuns from the Dominican Order ; and several large families . " Yancey " s officers and crew vacated their quarters to allow room for female passengers and children , and many slept on the decks of the ship during the passage to San Juan , Puerto Rico . One of the passengers gave birth during the short trip , and gave her son the middle name of " Yancey " in honor of the ship . After debarking her passengers at San Juan on 1 May , the ship took on supplies needed by the American ground forces in Santo Domingo : gasoline , oil , and ammunition . She docked in Santo Domingo on 2 May and exchanged her cargo for 450 more evacuees to be taken to San Juan . In all , " Yancey " carried almost a quarter of those fleeing the Dominican Republic . She returned to Norfolk soon thereafter , and resumed her role of training and cruising off the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean basin . On 1 January 1969 , " Yancey " was redesignated as " LKA - 93 " . Chesapeake Bay Bridge - Tunnel incident . Toward the end of her career , " Yancey " made headlines . " Yancey " was at anchor near one stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - Tunnel near Norfolk on 21 January 1970 . Driven by the winds in a snowy gale that gusted up to , " Yancey " dragged her anchors and allided with the bridge , knocking it out of service for several weeks . The Navy started a free shuttle service for commuters that normally used the route , using helicopters and LCUs . Fortunately , there were no vehicles on the bridge at the time of the allision , and no one was injured . Sources do not report on any damage to " Yancey " from the incident , but any damages suffered must have been easily repaired , because the ship deployed to the Mediterranean a few months later . After a return to the United States in mid - 1970 , " Yancey " entered inactive status at Norfolk on 1 October of that year . The ship was decommission ed at Norfolk on 20 January 1971 , and entered the James River berthing area of the National Defense Reserve Fleet . " Yancey " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 January 1977 . The vessel remained in the James River fleet until 16 August 1984 when she was withdrawn to be stripped of useful equipment by the U . S . Navy . She re - entered the fleet one year later , on 28 August 1985 , but was withdrawn for the final time on 15 December 1989 to be prepared for sinking as an artificial reef . In 1990 , the former " Yancey " was sunk as an artificial reef off Morehead City , North Carolina , and rests on her starboard side at a depth of .