View source for USS Gilliam

{{Short description|Attack transport ship sunk at Bikini atoll}}
{{more footnotes|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Gilliam (APA-57) underway at sea on 28 July 1944 (80-G-242729).jpg
|Ship caption={{USS|Gilliam|APA-57}} 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[United States]]
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Gilliam'' (APA-57)
|Ship namesake=[[Gilliam County, Oregon]]
|Ship yard number=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. A. O. Williams of Wilmington
|Ship builder=[[Consolidated Steel]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=28 March 1944
|Ship acquired=31 July 1944
|Ship commissioned=1 August 1944
|Ship decommissioned=N/A
|Ship reclassified= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=N/A
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=Two [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service
|Ship fate=Sunk during [[Operation Crossroads]] on 1 July 1946 at [[Bikini Atoll]]
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Gilliam class attack transport|''Gilliam''-class]] [[attack transport]]
|Ship displacement=4,247 tons (lt), 7,080 t.(fl)
|Ship tonnage= 
|Ship length={{convert|426|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|58|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship propulsion=[[Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1886)|Westinghouse]] turboelectric drive, 2 boilers, 2 propellers, Design shaft horsepower 6,000 
|Ship speed=16.9 [[knot (unit)|knots]]
|Ship range=
|Ship capacity=47 Officers, 802 Enlisted
|Ship complement=27 Officers 295 Enlisted  
|Ship crew= 
|Ship boats= 
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=1 x [[5"/38 caliber gun|5"/38 caliber]] dual-purpose gun mount, 4 x twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 x single [[Oerlikon 20mm cannon|20mm]] gun mounts 
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=[[Maritime Commission|MCV]] Hull No. 1850, hull type S4-SE2-BD1
}}
|}

'''USS ''Gilliam'' (APA-57)''', named for [[Gilliam County, Oregon|Gilliam County]] in [[Oregon]], was the [[lead ship]] in [[Gilliam class attack transport|her class]] of [[attack transport]]s serving in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Gilliam'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 28 March 1944 under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract by the [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]] at [[Wilmington, Los Angeles|Wilmington]] in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Mrs. A. O. Williams of Wilmington. The U.S. Navy acquired ''Gilliam'' on 31 July 1944 and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] her on 1 August 1944.

==Operational history==

===World War II===
The first of a new type of attack transport, ''Gilliam'' stood out of [[San Francisco Bay]] 16 October 1944 with 750 [[United States Army]] troops for [[Oro Bay]], [[New Guinea]], and delivered them to that port 4 November. Embarking nearly 1000 troops of the [[U.S. 11th Airborne Division]], she sailed a week later and off-loaded her passengers at [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]], subsequently returning to [[Teluk Yos Sudarso|Humboldt Bay]], New Guinea, 22 November. ''Gilliam'' got underway again 29 November under orders to steam to [[Leyte Gulf]] and embark elements of the [[Sixth United States Army|6th Army]] Headquarters for passage to [[Lingayen Gulf]].

====Heavy air attacks====

''Gilliam'' was part of a 36-ship [[convoy]] heading toward the [[Philippines]] when, on 5 December 1944, the convoy came under heavy air attack while {{convert|100|mi|km}} from [[Leyte Gulf]]. At 12:18 ''Gilliam'' spotted a plane coming in low over the water at deck level, headed for the middle of the convoy. Coming under limited fire, the [[Imperial Japan|Japanese]] plane released a [[torpedo]] two minutes later which hit {{SS|Antoine Saugrain}}. Just after 12:30 two more planes came in low and fast, and one got another torpedo into the stricken [[cargo ship|merchantman]], which was then dead in the water.

Intense fire from the convoy drove the planes off, but later that afternoon another Japanese aircraft dove in at 15:30, and after running into heavy fire, made a suicide crash on [[SS Marcus Daly|SS ''Marcus Daly'']]. The Japanese caught her on the bow at waterline and started fires and explosions. A second [[kamikaze]] tried his luck but missed and crashed into the sea after repeated hits from the convoy's gunners.

''Anton Saugraine'' and ''Marcus Daly'' were kept afloat by quick damage control, but the former ship was attacked again the next day while under tow and finally sunk. During this engagement, ''Gilliam'''s unflinching crew stood at [[General Quarters]] for nearly 12 hours and the ship reached [[Leyte]] on 6 December without damage.

====Invasion of Luzon====

At Leyte ''Gilliam'' acted as receiving ship for the crews of damaged warships and undertook medical and salvage operations in spite of continued air alerts. After embarking over 500 soldiers at [[Tacloban]], she sailed from that port 7 January 1945 bringing troops to [[Lingayen Gulf]] in support of the invasion. She returned to Leyte on 14 January to embark elements of the [[32nd Infantry Division (United States)|32nd Infantry Division]] and brought them safely back to Lingayen Gulf 27 January.

====Invasion of Okinawa====

After loading casualties for passage to Leyte, ''Gilliam'' sailed from that port 2 February to embark [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] of the [[III Amphibious Corps]] at [[Guadalcanal]] and conducted training exercises in preparation for the coming invasion of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]].

''Gilliam'' closed Okinawa on 1 April and in the face of [[kamikaze]] attacks debarked [[reconnaissance]] parties of the 3rd Amphibious Corps and unloaded vital cargo. On 5 April she sailed for the [[United States]] via [[Saipan]] and [[Pearl Harbor]], mooring at [[San Francisco]] 27 April for drydock repairs.

Subsequently ''Gilliam'' embarked men of the [[6th Engineer Support Battalion|6th Seabee Battalion]] a [[Port Hueneme, California]], and sailed 28 May 1945 for Okinawa via [[Eniwetok]] and [[Ulithi]]. She off-loaded cargo and passengers at Okinawa and then headed back to San Francisco.

===After hostilities===
''Gilliam'' arrived back at San Francisco on 10 August, where nearly 1,000 troops were embarked and brought to Pearl Harbor on 27 August. Men of the Headquarters and Service Battalions, [[V Amphibious Corps|5th Amphibious Corps]] came on board at [[Hawaii]], and ''Gilliam'' sailed 1 September for [[Sasebo]], Japan, and put her occupation troops ashore 3 weeks later.

On 25 September 1945 she got underway for [[Manila]], and after embarking more than 450 veterans of the [[33rd Infantry Division (United States)|33rd Infantry Division]] at Lingayen Gulf, she carried them to Sasebo, arriving 15 October.

====Operation Magic Carpet====

After returning to [[Cebu Island|Cebu]] in the Philippines 29 October, she became part of the [[Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)|Operation Magic Carpet]] fleet and sailed 2 November with 1,000 [[sailor]]s and soldiers, debarking them at [[Portland, Oregon]], 21 November 1945.

===Operation Crossroads===
[[File:Crossroads Able Target Ship Map.png|thumb|Map showing ''Gilliam'' near the center of the ''Able'' blast.]]
Following a voyage to [[Samar]], ''Gilliam'' moored at Pearl Harbor on 16 February 1946 and prepared to participate in the [[atomic bomb]] tests at [[Bikini atoll]] in the summer of 1946. On the morning of 1 July 1946, ''Gilliam'', a target ship for [[Operation Crossroads|Test Able]], was the first ship struck by the blast and sunk quickly in Bikini lagoon, badly damaged.<ref>{{Harvnb|Delgado|1991|pp=87–92}}. The worse hull damage was that done to Gilliam, which was described as "badly ruptured, crumpled, and twisted almost beyond recognition." Gilliam sank in 79 seconds.</ref> She was decommissioned, 5 July 1946 and struck from the Naval Register, 20 July 1946.

===Decorations===
* {{ribbon devices|number=3|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with three [[battle star]]s
* [[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]
* [[File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|106px]] [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] (two awards)

''Gilliam'' received three [[battle stars]] for [[World War II]] service and two [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]]s for her actions during the occupation of Japan.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/apa57.htm USS ''Gilliam'' (APA-57)], DANFS Online.
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/03057.htm APA-57 ''Gilliam''], Navsource Online.
* {{citation
| last = Delgado
| first = James P.
| author-link = James P. Delgado
| year = 1991
| title = The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb: A Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment of the Sunken Fleet of Operation Crossroads at Bikini and Kwajalein Atoll Lagoons
| location = Santa Fe, New Mexico
| publisher = National Park Service
| url = http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/swcrc/37/index.htm
| access-date = 8 November 2009
| asin = B0014H9NEW
}}
{{DANFS}}

{{Gilliam class attack transport}}
{{1946 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilliam APA-57}}
[[Category:Gilliam-class attack transports]]
[[Category:Transports of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Gilliam County, Oregon|USS Gilliam APA-57]]
[[Category:Ships built in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Ships involved in Operation Crossroads]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1946]]