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

(1969) Vol. 4, pp.415-416, 527.





MONITOR





	A person or thing that warns or instructs.





LSV-5

Displacement:  5,625 t.

Length:  451’4”

Beam:  60’3”

Draft:  20’

Speed:  20.3 k.

Complement:  564

Armament:  2 5”; 8 40mm

Class:  OSAGE





			OSAGE CLASS STATISTICAL SUMMARY



LSV-3 through 6

Length Overall:  458’

Extreme Beam:  60’3”

Full-load Displacement:  9,040 t.

Accommodations:

	Officer:     122

	Enlisted:  1,236

Armament:  2 single 5”/38

		 4 twin 40mm

Design Speed:  20.3 k.

Engines:  2 General Electric, geared turbine drive

Boilers:  4 Combustion Engineering, 2-drum





	The second MONITOR (AN-1) was laid down as a net laying 

ship on 21 October 1941 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., 

Pascagoula Miss.; launched 29 January 1943; sponsored by 

Mrs. John A. Terhune; redesignated transport AP-160, 

2 August 1943; and first commissioned 18 March 1944.  Due to 

delays in construction, the ship was transferred under her 

own power to Todd Shipyards, Brooklyn, N.Y., for completion, 

being landing ship vehicle LSV-5, 2 April, MONITOR 

commissioned for service 14 June 1944, Comdr. J. B. McVey in 

command.



	Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, MONITOR steamed 

via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, arriving 10 August.  

Loading troops, cargo and amphibious DUKWs, the ship joined 

the 3d Fleet off Leyte in October, participating in the 

landings at Leyte Gulf 20 October and then removing wounded 

for transport to Morotai.  She returned to Leyte with 

reinforcements 14 November and then sailed for Sansapor 

where she reloaded troops and equipment for the invasion of 

Luzon.  Steaming for Lingayen Gulf, under air attack much of 

the way, the landing ship, vehicle, put her assault force 

ashore 9 January 1945 and then stood by in support, 

splashing an enemy plane that night with only 28 rounds of 

40mm expended.



	In the closing days of January, the ship took part in 

two invasions in support of the Lingayen operation, the 

landing on San Felipe and La Paz 29 January, and the landing 

of American Rangers on Grande Island in Subic Bay on the 

30th.  MONITOR then steamed for Guadalcanal where she loaded 

marines for transport to Okinawa, participating in the D-Day 

landings 1 April and then standing by off that hotly 

contested island until 10 May when she sailed for the United 

States.  During, May, June, and July, the LSV made several 

trips between Pearl Harbor and the west coast with 

passengers and cargo and then in August proceeded to Saipan 

to load medical personnel and supplies, departing on the 

15th for Japan.  Joining the 3d Fleet off Tokyo, MONITOR 

took on board 1,000 bluejackets from battleships MISSOURI 

(BB-63), INDIANA (BB-58), WISCONSIN (BB-64), MASSACHUSETTS 

(BB-59) and ALABAMA (BB-60), conducting the first landing on 

the Japanese homeland 30 August.  The ship then served as a 

hospital ship to assist in the removal of Allied prisoners 

of war, over 8,000 repatriates being received on board and 

helped on their way before the amphibious vessel departed 

Japan 19 September.



	Returning to the United States, MONITOR was assigned to 

operation “Magic Carpet,” the massive program to bring the 

troops home.  She operated on this long but happy chore 

until decommissioning in the Reserve Fleet, Galveston, Tex., 

22 May 1947.  Reclassified mine countermeasures ship, MCS-5, 

18 October 1956, MONITOR was struck from the Naval Vessel 

Register 1 September 1961 and transferred to the Maritime 

National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, Tex., where she 

remains in 1969.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com