USS Todd (AKA-71)

Tolland class AKA, similar to USS Todd
History
Laid down:	10 August 1944
Launched:	10 October 1944
Commissioned:	30 November 1944
Decommissioned:	25 June 1946
Struck:	19 July 1946
Fate:	Unknown
General Characteristics
Hull Type:	C2-S-AJ3
Displacement:	8,635 tons light, 13,910 tons loaded
Length:	459 ft 2 in (140 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19.2 m)
Draft:	26 ft 4 in (8.0 m)
Propulsion:	GE geared steam turbine drive, single propeller, 6,000 shp (4.5 MW)
Speed:	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h)
Complement:	395 (62 officers, 333 men), plus embarked troops
Armament:	1 × 5"/38 caliber DP gun, 4 × twin 40 mm AA guns, 16 × 20 mm AA guns
Boats:	14 LCVP, 8 LCM
NOTES: Some sources report different displacements for ships of this type. Speed and complement may have changed as the ship or her mission were modified. Often one or two LCVPs were replaced by LCPLs. 20mm AA guns were sometimes removed.

USS Todd (AKA-71) was a Tolland class attack cargo ship named after counties in Kentucky, Minnesota, and South Dakota. She served as a commissioned ship for 18 months.

History

Todd was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1400) on 10 August 1944 at Wilmington, North Carolina, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 10 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. R. Gregg Cherry; acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration on 14 November; and commissioned on 30 November 1944, Lt. Comdr. Charles A. Johnson, USNR, in command.

The ship held shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay and then moved up the coast to Davisville, R.I., to load cargo. On 4 January 1945, Todd began an independent voyage to Hawaii (U.S. state). She transited the Panama Canal on 11 January and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 26th. She unloaded her cargo, participated in training exercises for two weeks, and got underway for New Caledonia on 12 February.

On 22 February, Todd arrived at Noumea to await further orders. During the next 10 weeks, the ship moved only once and that was to carry tracked landing vehicles 50 miles up the coast to Uarai Bay for the Army. She left Noumea on 3 May and proceeded, via Manus, to the Philippines. The cargo ship arrived at Leyte on 16 May and headed for Hollandia 12 days later. She loaded troops and supplies and returned to Manila on 17 June. Todd then made two more round-trips from the Philippines to New Guinea. The ship was unloading cargo at Subic Bay when hostilities with Japan ceased. She embarked occupation troops, with their equipment, at Manila and got underway for Japan on 27 August. The troops disembarked at Yokohama on 2 September. A voyage from the Philippines to Okinawa and another from the Philippines to Japan followed. In October and early November, she made calls at Hong Kong and Tsingtao before proceeding to Sasebo. Todd embarked elements of the 5th Marine Division and departed Japan for the United States on 7 December.

The ship arrived at San Diego on 22 December 1945 and disembarked her passengers. She moved to San Pedro the next day and off-loaded ammunition. Todd proceeded to San Francisco, California on 9 January 1946 and entered the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for voyage repairs. Between 15 February and 15 March, she made one last voyage to Hawaii (U.S. state). On 5 April, Todd stood out of San Francisco, California bound for Norfolk and inactivation. She arrived on 1 May and was decommissioned on 25 June 1946. Todd was returned to the War Shipping Administration the next day and was struck from the Navy list on 19 July 1946.

References

• Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Primary source for this article)

External links

• Naval Historical Center: USS Todd
• NavSource Online: AKA-71 Todd
• 51 Years of AKAs