This Military Service Page was created/owned by
William Conner (Will)-Association Page Admin
to remember
Calvin, Ardell Bernard (Cal), SN1C.
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Contact Info
Home Town Chicago, IL
Last Address Santa Rosa, California
Date of Passing Dec 19, 2002
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
I have created this Memorial Profile to honor my Grandfather, he died December 19, 2002... I miss him very much... He was drafted and served in the Navy; 2 Years, 7 Months, 21 Days, from 1943 to December 1945
I was going through some of my Grandfather's belongings and found a chart... The chart includes the entire sailing route of the Laurens, from Oakland, all throughout the Pacific, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Philipines, Saipan, Okinawa, and into Japan, and then back to Seattle at the end of the war... I would gladly copy it and send it to anyone who served on her...
Other Comments:
The USS LAURENS, an Attack Transport, was launched by Oregon
Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR, under Maritime
Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. James C. Black;
acquired by the US Navy on 7 September 1944; and commissioned the
same day, Capt. A. R. Ponto in command.
Numbered APA-153, a Haskell Class Vessel, (Victory Ship hull).
After shakedown along the California coast, the LAURENS
departed Oakland, CA, 26 October 1944, arriving Lae, New Guinea,
12 November 1944. For the next month she operated out of New
Guinea and New Caledonia, training in preparation for the
Lingayen Gulf landings. Forwarded to Guadalcanal in
mid-December, the LAURENS loaded over 1,400 troops and proceeded
to Manus, Admiralty Islands.
The LAURENS departed Manus 2 January 1945 and arrived in
Lingayen Gulf to land troops off San Fabian, Philippine
Islands, 9 days later. She stood out of Lingayen Gulf on
the 12th, returning to New Guinea 27 January. During
February she made another cruise to the Philippines
transporting forces to Leyte and remained there in
preparation for the Okinawa campaign.
On 27 March 1945, LAURENS steamed out of Leyte Gulf for
Okinawa, doorstep to Japan. The first wave of troops hit
the beach 1 April 1945, while the LAURENS arrived in the
transport area 9 miles offshore. They continued landing
troops and cargo until she sailed for Saipan, 6 April
arriving there 4 days later.
During May, the LAURENS was under repair at Pearl Harbor
and San Diego before returning Eniwetok 15 June 1945. For
the next 6 weeks the transport operated among the islands,
transferring troops and supplies to various staging areas.
After loading war veterans at Ulithi 31 July, the LAURENS sailed
the same day for San Francisco, arriving there 1 day before
the end of the war.
Following the Japanese surrender, the LAURENS carried
occupation troops to the Japanese home islands, then formed
a unit of the "Magic Carpet" fleet assigned to bring the
fighting men home. She returned to Portland, OR,
8 January 1946, on her final "Magic Carpet" run from the Far
East. The following month she sailed for the eastern
seaboard.
The LAURENS was decommissioned 10 April 1946 at Norfolk, VA,
and returned to the War Shipping Administration 13 April
1946. On 2 May 1956, the LAURENS entered the National Defense
Reserve Fleet in the Hudson River, NY, where she remained
into late 1967.
The LAURENS received two battle stars for World War II service.
She was sold for scrap in 1988...
Haskell Class Attack Transport:
Laid down (date unknown) as a Maritime Commission type (VC2-S-AP5) hull under a Maritime Commission contract at Oregon Shipbuilding Group, Portland OR.
Launched (date unknown)
Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission and Commissioned USS Laurens (APA-153), 7 September 1944
Decommissioned, 10 April 1946, at Norfolk VA.
Returned to the Maritime Commission, 13 April 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
Towed for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River NY, 2 May 1956 to 1967
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Okinawa Gunto Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
June / 1945
Description The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg. was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.
The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on Okinawan government sources, mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting on Okinawa.
