>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” (1969) Vol. 4, p.486; (1976) Vol. 6, pp.115-116. RIVERSIDE (There is no notation about the ship’s namesake.) APA-102 Displacement: 8,392 t. (light ship) Length: 492’ Beam: 69’6” Draft: 26’6” Speed: 18 k. Complement: 539 Troop Capacity: 1,740 Armament: 2 5”; 4 40mm; 18 20mm Class: BAYFIELD Maritime Commission Standard Type: C3-S-A2 Class Statistics BAYFIELD class (APA 33-48,92,93,95,96,99-102,104,106-116) Overall Length: 492’ Extreme Beam: 69’6” Trial Displacement: 11,760 t. Limiting Draft: 23’3” Trial Speed: 18.4 k. Accommodations: (all ships) Ship’s Company: Officers: 51 Enlisted: 524 Troop Capacity: Officer: 80 Enlisted: 1,146 Flag Accommodations: Officer: 43 Enlisted: 108 Cargo Capacity: 200,000 cu.ft.; 4,700 t. (APA 33-39) 175,000 cu.ft. (APA 40-48) 180,500 cu.ft. (APA 92,93,95,96,99-102,104,106-116) 4,700 t. (APA 33-48) 4,500 t. (APA 92,93,96,106-116)* 4,800 t. (APA 95,106-116)* * duplicate entry Armament: (Aug 1945) 1 5”/38: all ships 2 single 40mm mounts: all ships 2 twin 40mm mounts: (APA 33,47,93,96,100-102,106-112,114-115) 4 twin 40mm mounts: (APA 35-42,45,46,92,95,104,113,116) 3 twin 40mm mounts (APA 44) 18 single 20mm mounts: all ships 2 quad 1.1” mounts (APA 34,43,48) Engines: Geared turbine drive General Electric: (APA 33-45,92,93,96,99-102,104,106-116) Westinghouse: (APA 46-48,95) Boilers: 2 each Combustion Engineering D-type: (APA 33-39,92,93) Foster-Wheeler D-type: (APA 40-48,95,99-102,104,110-116) Babcock & Wilcox D-type: (APA 96) Propulsion: Propellers: 1 Designed Shaft Horsepower: 8,500 The second RIVERSIDE was laid down on 11 November 1942 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Co., Pascagoula, Miss., under Maritime Commission contract (M.C. hull 870); launched 13 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Sidney Swan; acquired by the Navy on loan charter, designated APA-102, and commissioned on 29 June 1944. Then ordered to New York for conversion to an attack transport at the Atlantic Basin Ironworks Corp. yard, she was decommissioned on 8 July, converted, and recommissioned on 18 December 1944, Capt. Louis N. Miller in command. After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, RIVERSIDE proceeded to Davisville, R.I.; loaded men and equipment of the 81st Construction Battalion; and departed for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal on 30 January 1945, she continued on to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 15 February. She then carried patients and passengers to California. In mid-April, she returned to Hawaii; conducted amphibious landing exercises through May, tested equipment and trained personnel in cargo handling in June; and in mid-June got underway on another Hawaii-California run. At the end of the month, she shifted from San Pedro to Portland, Oreg., for availability, and in early July steamed west with reinforcements for Okinawa. Steaming via Guam and Ulithi, RIVERSIDE, flagship of Transport Squadron 21, arrived at the Hagushi anchorage on 12 August and discharged her cargo and passengers. Two days later the war ended. She then shifted around to Buckner Bay, whence she proceeded to the Philippines to embark Army occupation troops for Korea. From Korea she returned to Okinawa and toward the end of October joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet to bring American troops back to the United States. At the end of January 1946, she completed her second trans-Pacific "Magic Carpet" run. She then made a round trip to Hawaii and, in mid-February, she departed San Francisco for the east coast and inactivation. RIVERSIDE arrived at Norfolk on 5 March. Decommissioned on 27 April, she was redelivered to the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration on the 28th. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946. Transcribed by Michael Hansen mhansen2@home.com