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

(1969) Vol. 4, p.119.





LIOBA





	A star.





AF—36

Displacement:  7,435 t.

Length:  338’6”

Beam:  50’

Draft:  21’1”

Speed:  11.5 k.

Complement:  84

Armament:  1 3”

Class:  ADRIA





	LIOBA (AF—36) was laid down under Maritime Commission 

contract 23 June 1944 by Pennsylvania Shipyard, Beaumont, 

Tex.; launched 27 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. W. B. 

Porter; acquired by the Navy 17 February 1945; and 

commissioned 6 March 1945, Lt. Sidney L. Boisdore in 

command.



	After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, the refrigerated 

cargo ship departed Mobile, Ala., 30 March 1945, for Pearl 

Harbor en route to Ulithi and Okinawa with mail and cargo 

for the fighting men pushing towards Japan and victory.  

Arriving Okinawa 4 June, LIOBA supplied fresh meat and 

provisions to Navy ships anchored off Hagushi Beach.  

Departing a week later, she steamed for New Zealand, arrived 

19 June, loaded cargo at Auckland and Napier, and sailed 

1 August for Pearl Harbor.  Arriving 8 August, she 

celebrated V—J Day unloading cargo, and departed 24 August 

for San Francisco.  A week later the hard working reefer, 

loaded with 1,600 tons of fleet issue cargo, again steamed 

for the western Pacific.  After discharging chilled and dry 

provisions for occupation forces at Guam, Saipan, Tinian and 

Tokyo, she returned to San Francisco 20 January 1946.



	Departing 10 February, LIOBA made one more cargo run to 

Yokosuka and the Pacific Islands, returned to San Francisco 

10 May, and sailed 2 days later for the east coast.  

Arriving Hampton Roads 30 May, for the remainder of 1946 she 

steamed along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean, 

visiting Boston, Bayonne, Charleston, Puerto Rico, and 

Trinidad.



	For the next 9 years, as the U.S. Navy provided the key 

bulwark for a Europe threatened by communism, LIOBA operated 

with the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, supporting the 

Navy’s effort to keep the peace in the North Atlantic and 

Mediterranean.  The ship departed Boston 10 January 1947 for 

the first of 11 Mediterranean cruises, transporting 

provisions to the 6th Fleet at Golfe Juan, France, and 

Naples, Italy.



	Sandwiched between Mediterranean duty, LIOBA completed 

three training cruises to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and carried 

fresh meat and supplies to other Navy outposts in the 

Caribbean.



	LIOBA departed Naples 10 April 1955 for her final 

passage to the United States, arriving Norfolk the 24th.  On 

30 July she steamed to Charleston, S.C., where she 

decommissioned 14 October 1955, and entered the Atlantic 

Reserve Fleet.  She remained there until transferred to the 

Maritime Commission and struck from the Navy list 1 July 

1960.  She entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet and 

was berthed in the James River, Va., into 1969.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com