USS Bollinger (APA-234) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. She was scrapped in 1982.

History
United States
NameUSS Bollinger (APA-234)
NamesakeBollinger County, Missouri
BuilderKaiser Shipbuilding
Laid down7 October 1944
Launched19 November 1944
Sponsored byMrs T. Mead
Acquired8 December 1944
Commissioned9 December 1944
Decommissioned1 April 1947
ReclassifiedLPA-234, 1 January 1969
Stricken22 May 1947
Honours and
awards
Two battle stars for World War II
FateScrapped in 1982
General characteristics
Class and typeHaskell-class attack transport
Displacement6,720 tons (lt), 14,837 t. (fl)
Length455 ft
Beam62 ft
Draft24 ft
Propulsion1 x Joshua Hendy geared turbine, 2 x Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 1 x propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,500
Speed17.5 knots
Boats & landing
craft carried
2 x LCM, 12 x LCVP, 3 x LCPU
Capacity86 Officers 1,475 Enlisted
Crew56 Officers, 480 enlisted
Armament1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mount, 1 x quad 40mm gun mount, 4 x twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 x single 20mm gun mounts
NotesMCV Hull No. 680, hull type VC2-S-AP5

History

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Bollinger was named after Bollinger County, Missouri. She was launched 19 November 1944 by Kaiser Shipbuilding of Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 8 December, and commissioned the next day.

World War II

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Bollinger joined the Pacific Fleet and arrived at Pearl Harbor 19 February 1945. She departed Pearl Harbor two days later for the invasion of Iwo Jima where she provided logistic support (6–16 March).

After returning to Pearl Harbor 5 April, she made a voyage to San Pedro, California, and back (22 April – 23 May), and then carried cargo and passengers to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Okinawa, Saipan, and Guam before returning to San Francisco on 29 July.

Leaving San Francisco 10 August she steamed to Eniwetok, Ulithi, and the Philippines before landing occupation troops at Wakayama, Honshū, Japan (12–26 September). She made one more voyage from the Philippines to Japan in October and then returned to San Diego, arriving 15 November. The transport made another voyage across the Pacific (December 1945 – January 1946) to bring men home from the Philippines.

Operation Crossroads

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During June and July 1946 she carried passengers to Bikini Atoll for Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests designed to test the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. Over 200 warships participated in this operation, 75 of them as targets.

Decommissioning and fate

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Bollinger then returned to cross-Pacific service and was decommissioned at San Francisco 1 April 1947. She was returned to the Maritime Commission the following day, and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California. While still in the Reserve Fleet, she was redesignated an amphibious transport LPA-234 on 1 January 1969. She was sold for scrapping by the MARAD on 19 February 1982.

Awards

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Bollinger received one battle star during World War II.

References

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

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