USS Randall (APA-224)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Randall (disambiguation).

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History
Name:	USS Randall
Builder:	Permanente Metals Corp.
Laid down:	15 September 1944
Launched:	15 November 1944
Commissioned:	12 December 1944
Decommissioned:	6 April 1956
Struck:	1 July 1960
Fate:	Laid up at Mobile, Alabama, until sold in 1971 for scrap at Wilmington, Delaware
General characteristics
Class & type:	Haskell-class attack transport
Displacement:	6,873 long tons (6,983 t)
Length:	455 ft (139 m)
Beam:	62 ft (19 m)
Draft:	24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion:	Oil Fired Steam Turbine 1 shaft
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	26
Complement:	56 Officers, 480 Enlisted
Armament:	1 × 5"/38 caliber guns 1 × quad 40 mm gun 4 × twin 40 mm guns 10 × single 20 mm guns

USS Randall (APA-224) was a Haskell-class attack transport of the United States Navy. She was named after Randall County, Texas and was commissioned on 12 December 1944, under the command of Captain Harold Stevens.

Service history

After training, the ship left for Pearl Harbor on 9 February 1945. She then sailed to the Volcano Islands. She arrived at Iwo Jima on 5 March, unloaded Army personnel and supplies, and uploaded Marines on their way to Guam. The ship returned to Pearl Harbor on 20 April. She next carried petroleum products to Kwajalein and took on Navy and Marine personnel for return to the USA. Arriving in San Francisco on 18 June, she proceeded to Ulithi, picked up Army units, and then continued to Okinawa, returning on 12 August. At the end of the war she brought members of the US Armed Forces from Okinawa to Seattle.

Comedian Soupy Sales served on Randall during the war and entertained his shipmates with zany vignettes featuring White Fang, the meanest dog that ever lived.

Post-World War II Service

When World War II ended, she transported Army and Marine personnel from various points in the Pacific to the US mainland. From 1952 until her decommissioning, the ship sailed from Hampton Roads and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek often berthing at NOB Pier 2. Between 1952 and 1955, she made numerous trips to the Caribbean for training purposes and a six-month training cruise to the Mediterranean. She had a total of three Captains – Nicholas Frank, Henry Sturr and Christopher Brackstone, all Naval Academy graduates. In 1954 she received the "E" award for her class.

In 1956 USS Randall was used in the filming of Away All Boats, mainly around St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.

References

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