Lowndes (APA-154)
1941-1946
Counties in the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi named for the South Carolina statesman William Lowndes.
(APA‑154: displacement 6,873; length 455'0"; beam 62'0"; draft 24'0" speed 17.0 knots; complement 536; troop capacity 1,561; armament 1 5-inch, 12 40 millimeter; 10 20 millimeter; class Haskell; type VC2‑S‑AP5)
Lowndes (APA‑154) was launched under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. V. Hull 120) by Oregon Shipbuilding Co., Portland, Oregon, on 18 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Fred J. Lundberg; acquired by the Navy on 14 September 1944; and commissioned the same day, Cmdr. Charles H. Perdue in command.
After shakedown, Lowndes departed San Pedro, Calif., on 23 October 1944 for amphibious training in the waters of the Territory of Hawaii. She continued landing rehearsals for the rest of the year in preparation for the Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations.
Departing Pearl Harbor on 27 January 1945, Lowndes carried troops and equipment to staging areas in Saipan before continuing toward Iwo Jima. She arrived off the southeast coast of the volcanic island 19 February and lowered her boats for the massive amphibious assault. For the next eight days, Lowndes stood by as her beach party went ashore to attend and evacuate casualties, to salvage boats, and to clear the beaches for landing craft. The transport returned to Saipan on 3 March to prepare for the final leg on the island hopping campaign which was pushing Japan back to her home islands.
Lowndes sailed on 27 March 1945 for the 1 April invasion of Okinawa arriving there in the morning hours of D‑Day. The transport waited in the retirement area until 12 April when under constant enemy air raids she debarked troops and unloaded cargo for the vigorous campaign ashore. Returning to Saipan on 18 April Lowndes performed training exercises there and in the Southwest Pacific until she departed Guam on 11 July for San Francisco.
The attack transport made another voyage to the western Pacific (August‑October 1945) carrying troops and cargo to the Philippines and Japan for occupation duty. Carrying homeward bound veterans as part of Magic C arpet, Lowndes departed Saipan on 6 October for the United States. Sailing to the east coast in February 1946, she was decommissioned at Norfolk on 17 April 1946, and returned to the War Shipping Administration for disposal.
Lowndes received two battle stars for her World War II service.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
15 July 2024
