From Dictionary of American Fighting Ships

From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Burleson

Burleson is a county in Texas.

(APA-67: dp. 4247: l. 426'; b. 58'; dr. 16'; s. 16.9 k.; cpl. 320; a. 1 5"; cl. Gilliam)

Burleson (APA-67) was launched 11 July 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Darryl F. Zanuck; acquired 8 November 1944; and commissioned on the same day, Lieutenant Commander B. Hartley, USNR, in command.

Burleson sailed to the Pacific 17 January 1945. She arrived at Guadalcanal 11 February and participated in amphibious practice maneuvers. On 15 March she arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands, which was a staging area for the coming assault on Okinawa.

On 27 March Burleson got underway with TG 51.11 to take part in the assault and occupation of Okinawa (1-7 April). During this period she unloaded cargo and disembarked troops while anchored off Okinawa. She departed for Guam enroute to Pearl Harbor 7 April. Burleson operated in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands until 25-June when she departed for Okinawa via Eniwetok and Ulithi. The ship remained in the Far East transporting troops and supplies to Korea and China until November 1945. At that time she was assigned to duty with the "Magic Carpet" fleet returning Pacific veterans to the west coast. During the early part of 1946 Burleson underwent conversion to an animal transport after being assigned to JTF 1 for Operation Crossroads.

She transported thousands of animals to Bikini and distributed them to assigned areas. Upon completion of the tests the animals were gathered up and returned to Burleson. The ship was detached 14 September 1946 and proceeded to Washington, D. C., via San Francisco. At Washington 2500 animals, which survived the experiments, were sent to the Naval Medical Research Center, Bethesda, Md., for special study.

Burleson was placed out of commission in reserve 9 November 1946. Her classification was changed to IX-67, 5 October 1956.

Burleson received one battle star for her World War II service.