USS President Jackson (APA-18) was a President Jackson-class attack transport that saw service with the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War. She was the lead ship in her class.
USS President Jackson (T-APA-18)(1949-1955)
USS President Jackson (APA-18) (1943 - 1949)
USS President Jackson (AP-37) (1942 - 1943)
Laid down, 2 October 1939, as Maritime Commission type (C3 P & C) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 53) at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, Corp. Newport News VA.
Launched, 7 June 1940
Delivered to American President Lines, 25 October 1940
Acquired by the Navy, 30 June 1941
Commissioned USS President Jackson (AP-37), 16 January 1942, CDR. Charles W. Weitzel USN in command
Reclassified Attack Transport(APA-18), 1 February 1943
During WWII USS President Jackson was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
TransRon Eleven, COMO. D.W. Loomis USN (18);
Transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) control, 22 October 1949, redesignated (T-AP-18)
Decommissioned, 6 July 1955, at San Francisco Naval Shipyard
Struck from the Naval Register, 1 October 1958
USS President Jackson earned nine battle stars for World War II service and four battle stars for Korean War service
Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 1 December 1958, for disposal
Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 23 April 1973, to N.W. Kennedy Ltd. (Canada), % Mitsui & Co. (PD-X-957 dated 15 March 1973) for $467,390.00. Delivered 15 May 1973
Specifications: Displacement 9,500 t.(lt), 16,000 t.(fl) Length 491' Beam 69' 6" Draft 26' 6" Speed 18.4 kts (trial) Complement
35 Officers
477 Enlisted Troop Accommodations
70 Officers
1,312 Enlisted Flag Accommodations
Officers 8 Largest Boom Capacity 30t. Cargo Capacity 6,800 DWT
non-refrigerated 185,000 Cu. ft. Armament
four single 3"/50 dual purpose guns
two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
three single 40mm AA gun mounts
twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts Boats
thirty-two LCVPs
three LCM(3) Fuel Capacities
NSFO 10,950 Bbls.
Diesel 800 Bbls Propulsion
one Newport News Shipbuilding geared turbine drive
two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gear
Ships Service Generators, four 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
single propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,500
Occupation Duty Dates:
15 to 20 July 1946
24 July to 11 August 1946
27 July to 12 August 1947
15 to 21 September 1947
20 to 26 December 1947
8 to 11 August 1949
30 August to 4 September 1949
13 to 16 November 1949
China Service Dates:
21 to 22 July 1946
27 July to 12 August 1947
8 to 15 September 1947
Description
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields (including South Field and Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.
After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. However, Navy SEABEES rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s.
The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels. The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.
Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as complete control of air power — coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement — permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.
The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, both of which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. Rosenthal's photograph promptly became an indelible icon — of that battle, of that war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps itself — and has been widely reproduced.
