>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1969) Vol. 4, p.487; (1976) Vol. 6, p.142-143.





ROCKWALL



	Rockwall:  A county in Texas.





APA-230



Displacement: 12,450 t.

Length:  455’

Beam:  62’

Draft:  24’

Speed:  18 k.

Complement:  536

Armament:  1 5”; 12 40mm

Class:  HASKELL

Maritime Commission Standard Type:  VC2-S-AP5





	Class Statistics



HASKELL Class (APA 117-180,187-239)



Overall Length:  455’

Extreme Beam:  62’

Trial Displacement:  14,837 t.

Limiting Draft:  24’

Speed:  19 k. (APA 117-196)

        18 k. (APA 197-206,208-239)

        19 k. (APA 207)

Accommodations:

	Ship’s Company:

		Officer:  56

		Enlisted:  480

	Troop Capacity:

		Officer:  86

		Enlisted:  1,475

Cargo Capacity:  150,000 cu.ft.; 2,900 t.

Armament:  (Aug 1945)

	1 5”/38

	1 40mm quad mount

	4 40mm twin mounts

	10 20mm single mounts

Engines:  Geared turbine drive

	Westinghouse 

		(APA 117,122,129,131,133,141-145,151-180,204-231)

	Joshua Hendy

		(APA 118-121,123,125-128,130,132,134-140,146-150,

			232-239)

	Allis-Chalmers

		(APA 187-203)

Boilers:  2 each

	Babcock & Wilcox; header-type

		(APA 117-150,155,156,169-180,201,204,207-211,213,

			218,224,225,231-239

	Combustion Engineering; header-type

		(APA 151-154,157-168,187-200,202,203,205,206,212,

			214-217,219-223,226-230)

Propulsion:

	Propellers:  1

	Designed Shaft Horsepower:  8,500





	Attack transport ROCKWALL (APA-230) was laid down for 

the Maritime Commission 9 September 1944 by Kaiser 

Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash.; launched 5 November 

1944; acquired by the Navy on loan-charter 14 January 1945; 

and commissioned the same day at Astoria, Oreg., Capt. 

Charles W. Roland in command.



	After shakedown off the California coast, ROCKWALL 

sailed for Saipan, where she debarked a Marine Rocket 

Detachment and a Naval Construction Regiment 12 April.  With 

other attack transports, she practiced amphibious operations 

and maneuvers off Lanai and Maui, 1-5 May.  She then made a 

hydrographic survey on Palahinu Beach, Lanai, before 

arriving at Pearl Harbor the 7th.  She departed the 24th, 

with Marines and debarked them at Okinawa l0 June.  The next 

day, ROCKWALL sailed for Ulithi, and on the 18th, took on 

board the 5th Military Police Battalion of the U.S. Marines 

at Guam and carried them to Iwo Jima.



	ROCKWALL began her homeward voyage with officers and 

enlisted men from Iwo Jima 29 June, picked up further troops 

at Tinian 4 July, and arrived at San Francisco the 24th.  

She carried Army replacements to Manila 9 September and 

loaded stores and embarked Army troops at Leyte Gulf the 

13th.  She sortied the 18th with APPALACHIAN (AGC-1), the 

amphibious force flagship, and a convoy of 24 attack 

transports and attack cargo ships for Honshu, Japan.  The 

force arrived the 25th and began unloading.  ROCKWALL sailed 

the 29th for Shanghai, China, joining destroyer escort 

WOODSON (DE-359) as escort on 4 October and arrived the 6th.  

She embarked 1,728 passengers the 11th and arrived at 

Seattle, Wash., the 26th.  ROCKWALL made two more voyages to 

the Philippines.



	During the spring of 1946, she took part in the atomic 

bomb test at Bikini.  She was then transferred to the 

Amphibious Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and soon began 

amphibious training operations in the Caribbean.



	On 15 March 1947, ROCKWALL decommissioned and entered 

the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.  The ship recommissioned 3 March 

1951 at San Francisco.  Her duties during the next 4 years 

were varied.  ROCKWALL carried 1,500 Army troops to 

Bremerhaven, Germany, in August 1952.  The next spring, she 

took part in refresher training off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  

In January 1954, the transport embarked Marines at Morehead 

City, N.C., for a 5-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean 

with the 6th Fleet.  She returned to Norfolk, Va., 27 May 

and began a series of amphibious operations off the beaches 

of Virginia and Vieques Island near Puerto Rico.



	ROCKWALL entered the Reserve Fleet again 4 June 1955 

and decommissioned 28 September.  On 1 December 1958, she 

was struck from the Navy list and was transferred to the 

custody of the Maritime Administration.  She is now (1976) 

berthed in James River, Va.



	For her service in World War II, ROCKWALL earned one 

battle star.





	[ROCKWALL was disposed of on 1 August 1983 by “Maritime 

Administration exchange.”]



Internet Web Site:

	Naval Vessel Register

		www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/LPA230.htm





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com