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USS Kleinsmith
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USS Kleinsmith
USS Kleinsmith (APD-134), ex-DE-718, was a Crosley-class high speed transport for the United States Navy. She was named for Chief Watertender Charles Kleinsmith (1904–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism during the Battle of Midway.
Charles Kleinsmith was born on 28 September 1904 in Zionsville, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 26 October 1922 as an apprentice seaman. Until honorably discharged on 5 October 1926 as fireman second class, he served on board several ships, including the battleships USS Wyoming and USS Maryland.
Kleinsmith reenlisted in the Navy on 20 December 1928, and during the next 11 years he had duty on board the light cruisers USS Milwaukee and USS Cincinnati, the heavy cruiser USS Portland and the light cruiser USS Honolulu. He reported aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga on 27 December 1939 and transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on 31 October 1940. He achieved the rank of chief watertender.
During the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, Chief Watertender Kleinsmith maintained auxiliary power on Yorktown after an intense Imperial Japanese Navy bombing attack extinguished the fires in all of her boilers but one. At the end of the attack, Kleinsmith was missing and presumed dead. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Originally a Rudderow-class destroyer escort designated DE-718, Kleinsmith was re-designated as APD-134 on 17 July 1944, even before being laid down on 30 August 1944 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan. She was launched on 27 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Agnes Kleinsmith. Builders trials before her pre-commissioning cruise were done in Lake Huron.
After completion, Kleinsmith sailed from the builder's yard at Bay City to Chicago, Illinois. From there, they went through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and down the Chicago River to Joliet, Illinois, where pontoons were attached to the ship so it could be pushed down the Des Plaines River, Illinois River, and Mississippi River as part of a barge train. After arriving at the Todd Johnson Shipyard in Algiers, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi at New Orleans, the rest of the crew reported aboard, and Kleinsmith was commissioned at New Orleans on 12 June 1945.
As an APD, her primary role was to land raiding parties on enemy beaches and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) personnel on beach obstacle clearance operations. APDs also retained the sound gear and some anti-submarine weapons of destroyer escorts, and served as escorts to amphibious groups. Because they could take on extra personnel, they were often designated as rescue ships if a transport went down.
After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Kleinsmith arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 21 July. Departing on 4 August for the Pacific, the high-speed transport steamed via the Panama Canal, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor, and reached Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 1 October. She operated between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands until 21 February 1946. She then sailed from Sasebo via the Marshall Islands and Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco on 24 March with 118 returning veterans embarked. Departing on 10 April, she proceeded via the Panama Canal to the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on 1 May 1946.
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USS Kleinsmith
USS Kleinsmith (APD-134), ex-DE-718, was a Crosley-class high speed transport for the United States Navy. She was named for Chief Watertender Charles Kleinsmith (1904–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism during the Battle of Midway.
Charles Kleinsmith was born on 28 September 1904 in Zionsville, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 26 October 1922 as an apprentice seaman. Until honorably discharged on 5 October 1926 as fireman second class, he served on board several ships, including the battleships USS Wyoming and USS Maryland.
Kleinsmith reenlisted in the Navy on 20 December 1928, and during the next 11 years he had duty on board the light cruisers USS Milwaukee and USS Cincinnati, the heavy cruiser USS Portland and the light cruiser USS Honolulu. He reported aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga on 27 December 1939 and transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on 31 October 1940. He achieved the rank of chief watertender.
During the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, Chief Watertender Kleinsmith maintained auxiliary power on Yorktown after an intense Imperial Japanese Navy bombing attack extinguished the fires in all of her boilers but one. At the end of the attack, Kleinsmith was missing and presumed dead. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Originally a Rudderow-class destroyer escort designated DE-718, Kleinsmith was re-designated as APD-134 on 17 July 1944, even before being laid down on 30 August 1944 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan. She was launched on 27 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Agnes Kleinsmith. Builders trials before her pre-commissioning cruise were done in Lake Huron.
After completion, Kleinsmith sailed from the builder's yard at Bay City to Chicago, Illinois. From there, they went through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and down the Chicago River to Joliet, Illinois, where pontoons were attached to the ship so it could be pushed down the Des Plaines River, Illinois River, and Mississippi River as part of a barge train. After arriving at the Todd Johnson Shipyard in Algiers, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi at New Orleans, the rest of the crew reported aboard, and Kleinsmith was commissioned at New Orleans on 12 June 1945.
As an APD, her primary role was to land raiding parties on enemy beaches and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) personnel on beach obstacle clearance operations. APDs also retained the sound gear and some anti-submarine weapons of destroyer escorts, and served as escorts to amphibious groups. Because they could take on extra personnel, they were often designated as rescue ships if a transport went down.
After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Kleinsmith arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 21 July. Departing on 4 August for the Pacific, the high-speed transport steamed via the Panama Canal, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor, and reached Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 1 October. She operated between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands until 21 February 1946. She then sailed from Sasebo via the Marshall Islands and Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco on 24 March with 118 returning veterans embarked. Departing on 10 April, she proceeded via the Panama Canal to the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on 1 May 1946.
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