USS MELLETTE (APA-156)
LAMBERT M. SURHONE, MIRIAM T. TIMPLEDON, SUSAN F. MARSEKEN
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USS Mellette (APA-156) was a Haskell-class attack transport built and used by the US Navy in World War II.
She was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5.
She was named after Mellette County, South Dakota, USA.
Mellette was launched by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, Oregon, 4 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Clarissa Bickford; acquired from the Maritime Commission on a loan charter basis; and commissioned 27 September 1944, Commander F. H. Spring, USNR, in command.
In November 1944 Mellette followed a San Pedro shakedown cruise with a voyage to the Hawaiian Islands for training operations.
She conducted amphibious troop, gunnery, and tactical exercises off Maui into January 1945.
On 27 January she joined TG 51.1 and got underway for Iwo Jima.
With units of the 4th Marine Division embarked, she steamed west, via Eniwetok and Saipan, arriving off the Volcano Islands to participate in the initial assault 19 February.
She remained off the eastern beaches of Iwo Jima for the next 6 days, unloading supplies and taking on casualties.
