From The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Colbert

A county in Alabama.



APA - 145:      dp. 6,720     l. 445'     b. 62' dr.24'      s. 18 k.       
cpl. 536  a. 1 x 5" cl. Haskell

Colbert (APA-145) was launched 1 December 1944 by California Shipbuilding Corp.,
Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. L. G.
Miller; acquired 7 February 1945 and commissioned the same day, Captain L.
Jeffrey in command. Colbert sailed from San Francisco 15 April 1945 with
passengers for Honolulu, where she remained from 21 April to 20 May, disembarking
her original troops and loading reinforcements for Okinawa, where she arrived 7
June. She sailed on to Ulithi to load Japanese and Korean prisoners of war, with
whom she returned to Pearl Harbor 28 June. After a brief stateside overhaul,
Colbert put to sea 21 July 1945 to carry troops to Ulithi and Okinawa, where she
lay until 5 September. She voyaged to Jinsen, Korea, and Dairen, Manchuria, to
embark Allied soldiers and sailors formerly held prisoner at Mukden, Manchuria,
and returned to Okinawa 16 September. Next day she put to sea to evade a typhoon,
and that same day struck a floating mine, which caused the death of three men and
damaged the ship extensively. Towed back to Okinawa 18 September, she was later
towed to Guam, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco for repairs, reaching the west
coast 30 January 1946. On 26 February 1946, she was decommissioned and
transferred to the War Shipping Administration at Suisan Bay, Calif. Colbert
received one battle star for World War II service.

Transcribed by: hubertypc@hol.fr
HTML by: epm@qadas.com
Date: 6 Dec 1998