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

(1969) Vol. 4, p.487; (1970) Vol. 5, p.101.





NOBLE



	Noble:  Counties in Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma.  Noble 

County in Indiana was named for Noah Noble, an early 

governor of that state; Noble County in Ohio was named for 

James Noble, an early settler; and Noble County in Oklahoma 

was named for John Noble, Secretary of the Interior from 

1889 to 1893.





APA-218



Displacement: 10,500 t. (full load)

Length:  455’3”

Beam:  63’4”

Draft:  24’

Speed:  18 k.

Complement:  536

Armament:  1 5”; 12 40mm; 2 landing craft

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





	NOBLE (APA-218) was laid down as MCV hull 566, 20 July 

1944 by Permanente Metals Corp., Richmond, Calif. as a 

modified Victory ship; completed by the Kaiser Shipyard at 

Richmond; launched 18 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Maxine 

C. Jones; acquired by the Navy 27 November 1944; and 

commissioned the same day, Comdr. Solomon S. Isquith in 

command.



	NOBLE’s primary mission was to transport to a combat 

area the men and some of the material necessary for an 

assault on an enemy shore.  Her main armament, her boat 

group, was designed to deliver her troops and cargo to the 

beach in a planned and orderly fashion.  After discharging 

troops and equipment, she could evacuate casualties or 

prisoners of war.



	In January 1945, NOBLE steamed westward to participate 

in the Okinawa campaign.  Upon termination of the war, she 

assisted in the delivery of released allied prisoners of war 

from Korea to the Philippines.  She also participated in 

Operation “Magic Carpet,” returning servicemen from the 

Pacific to the United States.



	NOBLE was attached to the Atlantic Fleet from 1946 

through 1949, operating out of Norfolk, Va.  She returned to 

San Diego 13 September 1949 and was undergoing overhaul at 

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, when war broke 

out in Korea in June 1950.  In August, she steamed to Korea 

to participate in the September Inchon amphibious assault.  

Thereafter, she assisted in the transport of U.S. and 

foreign troops and equipment to and from the Korean combat 

zone.  In July 1953, she participated in Operation “Big 

Switch,” moving Communist North Korean prisoners from Koje 

Do to Inchon pursuant to the armistice agreement.



	Subsequent to the Korean War, NOBLE conducted training 

operations in both the eastern and western Pacific areas.  

In 1955, she assisted in the evacuation of Chinese civilians 

and military from the Tachen Islands to Formosa.



	At the outset of the Cuban crisis 27 October 1962, 

NOBLE embarked 1,400 Marines with their equipment and 

steamed for the Caribbean in company with other Pacific 

Fleet amphibious units.  She returned to San Diego in 

December, then deployed to WestPac in March 1963 for a tour 

with the 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group.



	NOBLE returned to San Diego in December 1963 and 

conducted upkeep and training operations until she 

decommissioned 1 July 1964.  She then entered the Mare 

Island Naval Shipyard for preparation for transfer to Spain 

under the Mutual Assistance Program.  The transfer ceremony 

took place 19 December at San Francisco.



	[Renamed attack transport ARAGON (TA-11) by the 

Spanish, the ship served until being laid up and stricken in 

1987.]



Conway’s All The World’s Fighting Ships, 1947-1995,” p.439.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com