USS Winston


USS Winston was an in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1957 and from 1961 to 1969. She was scrapped in 1979.

History

Winston was named after counties in Alabama and Mississippi. She was laid down on 10 July 1944 at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company under a Maritime Commission contract, launched on 30 November 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Benjamin Fairless, delivered to the Navy on 18 January 1945, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 19 January 1945.

World War II, 1945

Winston completed her fitting-out at New York and then departed on 3 February, bound for the Virginia Capes. She reached Hampton Roads the following day and, for the next nine days, conducted shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay. Following post-shakedown availability at the Norfolk Navy Yard, she put to sea once again on 1 March, bound for Hawaii. En route, the vessel transited the Panama Canal on 7 March and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 20th. After discharging her cargo, the attack cargo ship stood out of Pearl Harbor on 29 March, set a course for the west coast, and reached San Francisco on 4 April. There, Winston loaded 2,496 tons of cargo bound for the 4th Marine Division, headed back toward Hawaii on 10 April, and arrived at Maui nine days later. She discharged her cargo there and, on 27 April, received orders to conduct amphibious training at Kahoolawe Island. That operation lasted until 1 May. The following day, she stopped briefly at Honolulu before departing Hawaii on her way back to the west coast. She arrived in San Francisco Bay on 9 May, loaded ammunition at Port Chicago, and headed back to Hawaii on the 14th. In June and July, she made two more such round-trip voyages ferrying ammunition between Oahu and San Francisco. After her return to Pearl Harbor in August, Winston resumed duty with the amphibious forces. The war, however, ended before she saw any combat action.

Far East, Atlantic & Pacific deployments, 1945–1950

Winston supported the American postwar occupation in Asia. On 7 September, she stood out of Pearl Harbor to transport the Army's 98th Infantry Division to Japan. She stopped at Saipan from the 19th to the 22nd and arrived at Wakayama, Japan, on 27 September. On 1 October, Winston got underway for the Philippines and, a week later, entered port at Manila. On the 8th, she moved to Subic Bay where she loaded landing craft to replace those she had left with the occupation forces in Japan. The following day, the ship left Subic Bay and headed – via Lingayen Gulf and Aringay – back to Japan. She reached Hiro Wan on 22 October and remained there for eight days. She put to sea again on the 30th and set a course for Pearl Harbor. Winston made a three-day stop at Oahu, from 10 to 13 November, before continuing on toward the United States. She transited the Panama Canal on 29 November and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 December.
For almost two years, the ship plied the waters of the western Atlantic, participating in amphibious maneuvers with Marines from the Central American coast in the south to the shores of Greenland in the north. Late in 1947, Winston was inactivated briefly at Baltimore; but she returned to active service early in 1948. During that year, she resumed exercises with the Marines and travelled the length of the coast of North America. At the beginning of 1949, she embarked units of the 2nd Marine Division and sailed on 3 January for a four-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean. On 24 May, the attack cargo ship returned to the United States from her first cruise with the 6th Fleet. After disembarking the Marines at Morehead City, North Carolina, she proceeded to Norfolk and resumed east coast operations out of that port.
On 2 September, she left the Chesapeake Bay on her way to the Pacific Ocean. The ship transited the Panama Canal on the 7th, remained at Balboa until the 10th, and then headed north to the Pacific Northwest. She visited Olympia, Seattle, and Tacoma before moving south to San Diego on 29 September. Winston departed that port on 10 October, bound for Hawaii. For the next three weeks, she participated in Operation "Miki", a combined Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps exercise simulating a massive invasion of the Hawaiian Islands. She returned to the west coast in mid-November and paid visits to Tacoma, Washington, and San Francisco, California, before heading south toward Panama on 22 November. She entered the canal on 4 December, set a course back toward the Virginia Capes later that day, and arrived in Hampton Roads on 8 December. For the next seven months, Winston made training voyages out of Norfolk and conducted amphibious exercises with Marines embarked.

Korean War, 1950–1953

However, the eruption of hostilities in the Far East late in June 1950 – when communist North Korea invaded South Korea – took the attack cargo ship back to the Orient. On 14 August, Winston stood out of Hampton Roads, bound – via the Panama Canal and the California coast – for the western Pacific. She transited the canal on the 19th and arrived in San Diego on the 27th. On 1 September, the ship embarked upon a non-stop voyage to Kobe, Japan, which she reached on the 16th. After two days at Kobe, Winston continued her voyage to the combat zone off the coast of Korea. On 26 September, she and the other units of Transport Division 11 landed reinforcements at Inchon where, only 11 days before, the United States Navy had landed troops in a classic combined operation which forced communist forces to withdraw from much of South Korea. She continued participation in that operation for five days before retiring to Sasebo, Japan. Two weeks later, she returned to Inchon to reembark Marines for the landings at Wonsan carried out between 25 and 31 October. Completing her part in that operation, the attack cargo ship began a shuttle service between Pusan and the combat areas ferrying fresh troops and supplies – first to Wonsan and, later, to Hŭngnam.
Late in November, Chinese communist forces entered the conflict and began an all-out drive against United Nations forces to drive them out of North Korea. By early December, most UN troops were pushed across the 38th parallel into South Korea, but a few held coastal enclaves at Wonsan and Hŭngnam. Winston participated in the evacuation of troops from both areas. That operation occupied most of the final month of 1950. During the first eight months of 1951, the attack cargo ship continued her duty running troops and supplies between various points on the eastern coast of Korea. When UN forces began their push back northward, the naval forces along the eastern coast supported their advance by elaborate feints at amphibious landings far behind enemy lines. Winston participated in three of those diversions between April and June. Otherwise, her mission remained one of cargo and troop transportation.
After visits to Sasebo and Hong Kong in June and July, respectively, she departed Hong Kong on 14 July and shaped a course back to the United States. She arrived in San Diego on 1 August and began operations along the California coast. At the beginning of 1952, she left the coast for a voyage to Hawaii and an overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. At the conclusion of this refurbishing work, she resumed operations along the west coast out of San Diego.
In November, Winston loaded ammunition at San Francisco and, on the 12th, headed out to sea to return to the western Pacific. She arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on the 29th; but, instead of heading back to the Korean coast immediately, the attack cargo ship made a circuit of port visits, stopping at Sasebo, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and, returning to Japan, at Naha and Kobe before reentering Yokosuka. Between 12 and 14 February 1953, she made her first return visit to Korea, carrying troops and equipment from Japan to Pusan. From then until the armistice in July, shuttle missions between Japan and Korea remained her sole mission. Then, as the diplomatic offensive replaced military operations, the issue of prisoner exchange came to the fore, and Winston was chosen as one of the ships to participate in "Operation Big Switch". She made four trips between Koje-do, Cheju-do, and Pusan repatriating over 3,000 prisoners of war and civilian internees between August and September 1953.

Pacific Fleet, 1953–1957

She returned to Japan early in September and, after stops at Sasebo and Yokosuka, the ship departed the latter port on 22 September to return to the United States. En route, she made a two-day layover at Pearl Harbor between 3 and 5 October and arrived in San Diego on the 12th. She remained there until 8 December, at which time she put to sea en route to Pearl Harbor and another shipyard overhaul.
After completing those repairs in February 1954, she headed home on the 24th and arrived at San Diego on 3 March. Six months of west coast operations under the auspices of the Commander, Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, ensued. In September, she headed back to the western Pacific once more for a five-month deployment during which she participated in 7th Fleet amphibious exercises and transported Marine Corps units between various bases in the Far East.
On 17 March 1955, Winston arrived back in San Diego to begin another six months with the Pacific Fleet Amphibious Force. Coastal operations, including participation in amphibious exercises at Camp Pendleton, occupied her through the summer. On 29 August, she stood out of San Diego on her way to the Far East once again. The ship entered Yokosuka on 15 September to begin an eventful tour of duty with the 7th Fleet.
She participated in Marine Corps landing exercises at Okinawa in November and, in February 1956, joined in another amphibious operation but this time at Iwo Jima. Late in February, she visited Yokosuka before heading home via Pearl Harbor. She reentered San Diego on 23 March and resumed local operations along the California coast. Those operations included a brief period of service in conjunction with the shooting of the film, The Good Shepherd. On 1 February 1957, Winston was placed out of commission, in reserve, apparently berthed at either San Diego or San Francisco. She also appeared in the movie "Away All Boats" which was released in 1958.