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USS DAUPHIN (APA-97)

USS Dauphin was named after Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Last updated June 2009

General Specifications

Type Windsor-class attack transport
Displacement 7,970 tons (lt), 13,132 t. (fl)
Length 473 ft 1 in
Beam 66 ft
Draft 26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion Bethlehem geared turbine drive, 2 x Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, single propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,000
Speed 18.6 kt
Troops Officer 91 Enlisted 1,420
Cargo 150,000 cu ft, 1,600 tons
Armament 1 x 5"/38 caliber dual-purpose gun mounts, 2 x Bofors 40mm gun mounts, 2 x twin 20mm gun mounts, 18 x single 20mm gun mounts
MCV Hull No. 1675, hull type C3-S-A3
Geared turbine engines, single screw, 8,000 hp
Built By Bethlehem-Sparrows Point, and commissioned 23 September 1944


USS Dauphin (APA-97)

USS Dauphin (APA-97) was was a Windsor-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. She was launched 10 June 1944 by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the Navy 23 September 1944; and commissioned the same day, Commander B. Connelly in command.

Dauphin reported to Newport, Rhode Island 29 October 1944 for duty training precommissioning crews of transport and cargo ships, so serving 36 ships. Clearing Newport 20 January 1945 she arrived at Norfolk, Virginia the next day to load cargo, and on 13 February got underway for the Pacific.

She embarked troops and combat cargo at Pearl Harbor between 5 and 29 March, and arrived at Ulithi staging point for the Okinawa operation 15 April. She sailed from Ulithi on the 22d to land reinforcements at Hagushi Beach, Okinawa, from 26 to 30 April.

Carrying casualties, she called at Saipan and arrived at San Francisco 22 May. A week later Dauphin was underway for the Philippines. From 27 June until the end of the war she carried troops from New Guinea to the Philippines.

On 26 August, Dauphin sailed from Batangas Bay, Luzon, with occupation troops. She anchored in Tokyo Bay the day of surrender, 2 September, and from 4 September to 27 October made four similar voyages carrying troops from the Philippines to Japan. Assigned to the Operation Magic Carpet fleet she made two voyages carrying home veterans from Sasebo, Japan, and San Pedro Bay, Leyte, between 6 November 1945 and 17 January 1946.

On the last day of January she put out for the east coast, arriving at Norfolk 17 February. Dauphin was decommissioned there 3 April 1946 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration the next day for disposal. Dauphin earned one battle star for World War II service.

Dauphin was sold to American Export Lines in 1948, refitted, and renamed SS Exochorda (II), one of the second-generation "4 Aces". SS Exochorda was sold and renamed the SS Stevens in 1967. The Stevens was used as a floating student dormitory until she was scrapped in 1979.

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