Deniston, Norman, COX

My Grandpa served on the USS Bowie (APA-137), based out of Kaneohe Bay, HI from 1944-1946.  Here are some facts about the ship and some of the chronological events/ports as they happened for him & his crew:

Commissioning:
08-28-44:  laid down in Wilmington, CA by Maritime Commission;
10-31-44:  launched off;
12-21-44:  delivered to the Navy;
12-23-44:  commissioned in Terminal Island, CA by Cmdr Frank L. Durnell. 

1st Deployment:
02-20-45:  left the Naval Supply Depot in Oakland, CA for the Mariana Islands;
02-26-45:  passed through Hawaiin Islands;
03-06-45:  stopped at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands for refueling;
03-10-45:  arrived at Guam;
03-16-45:  completed cargo operations;
03-17-45:  left Guam & arrived in Saipan to embark casualties;
03-18-45:  left Saipan with casulties from Iwo Jima;
03-27-45:  arrived at Pearl Harbor HI;
03-27-45:  conducted local operations in Hawaiian waters & engaged in upkeep in Pearl Harbor unitil mid April. At that time, she began combat loading elements of the10th Army bound for the Okinawa campaign;
04-16-45:  left Hawaii in a convoy with Negro Troops;
04-24-45:  arrived at Eniwetok;
04-30-45:  left Eniwetok;
05-03-45:  arrived at Ulitthi;
05-06-45:  left Ulitthi;
05-10-45:  arrived at Hagushi Beach in Okinawa, Japan to land troops & unload supplies;
05-10-45:  2 Jap suicide planes dived at USS New Mexico while in Ryukyus;
05-15-45:  left Okinawa, Japan for Hawaii;
05-21-45:  arrived at Ulitthi;
05-22-45:  left Ulitthi;
05-23-45:  arrived at Guam;
05-24-45:  left Guam;
06-03-45:  arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI;
06-04-45:  left Pearl Harbor, HI;
06-09-45:  arrived back to San Francisco, CA disembarking the casualties & passangers.

2nd Deployment:
06-??-45:  loaded cargo & took on troops;
06-17-45:  left San Fransico, CA for the Philippines;
??-??-45:   arrived in Eniwetok for fuel;
??-??-45:   arrived in Ulithi for fuel;
07-09-45:  arrived in Tacloban City, Philippines to discharge cargo & troops;
07-14-45:  left Tacloban City, Philippines for Hawaii;
??-??-45:   arrived in Hawaii, at which time she spent almost 2 months in the Hawaiian Islands. When not ported in Pearl Harbor or Honolulu, she conducted rehearsal landings at various locations in the islands;
09-01-45:  left Hawaii in a convoy headed for Japan;
09-13-45:  arrived in Saipan to take on fuel & provisions;
09-22-45:  arrived in Sasebo, Japan;
09-24-45:  troops went ahsore;
09-25-45:  cleared Sasebo;
09-30-45:  took on boats at Subic Bay and then moved to Manila;
10-02-45:  moved to Lingayen Gulf & began embarking troops for occupation service in Japan;
10-09-45:  departed Lingayen Gulf;
10-14-45:  arrived in Sasebo, Japan;
10-18-45:  disembarked passangers;
10-22-45:  departed Sasebo, Japan for Guam;
10-27-45:  arrived in Guam and left the same day for San Diego, CA;
11-12-45:  arrived in San Diego, CA.

3rd Deployment:
11-27-45:  left the west coast to Guam to bring back home troops from the Pacific theater;
12-27-45:  arrived back in the US;
01-16-46:  departed San Pedro, CA to Norfolk, VA for decommissing, via the Panama Canal;
02-04-46:  Arrived in Norfolk, VA where the ship began preparations for inactivation;

Decommissioning:
03-08-46:  decommissioned in Norfolk, VA;
03-14-46:  returned to the Maritime Commission;
03-28-46:  struck from the Navy List and berthed with the National Defense Reserve Fleet in James River, VA;
04-09-73:  sold to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., NYC, NY, for scrapping.

My Grandfather got out of the United States Navy in 1946 and worked in the Long Beach, CA marina area the rest of his life. He worked for many years as a tug boat Captain for the Peter Foss Tug Boat Company, including numerous winters in the 1970's working for the government in the Antarctic, as well as other deployments to South and Central America. He retired in 2001 and died shortly thereafter (in his home in Long Beach,CA) while he was fighting his four-year battle with cancer. He was a great man, husband, father, grandfather, and American. If anyone out there knew him, please e-mail at santiagoroles1913@gmail.com. Thank you.