USS Chilton

USS Chilton. . , Constructed by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco. the Bayfield-class attack transport ship was launched on December 29, 1942, as the SS Sea Needle. The vessel was retrofitted at the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard in New York for service as an attack transport, relief command, and primary casualty ship. Commissioned on December 7. 1943. as APA-38 (Auxiliary, Personnel, Attack), the ship was named in honor of the citizens of Chilton County for being the first county in the United States to meet its established quota during a 1943 War Bond drive. The USS Chilton was powered by an 8,500-horsepower steam turbine with a displacement of 16,100 tons fully loaded. As an amphibious transport, its primary mission was to embark, move, and land troops against enemy opposition, leading the crew to adopt the motto, "Any Beach. Any Time." The crew complement included 51 officers, 524 enlisted men, and 1,500 combat Marines. During the Second World War, operating in the Pacific Theater of combat, the USS Chilton participated in operations at Ulithi, Leyte Gulf, Kerama Retto, and the invasion of the island of Okinawa., The USS Chilton served as the flagship for Transport Squadron 17 during the invasion of Okinawa. The ship suffered damage after being struck by enemy kamikaze aircraft during the battle for Kerama Retto, earning a Battle Star for meritorious service in the Pacific Theater of Operations. After the Second World War, the USS Chilton completed two "Operation Magic Carpet” cruises to return combat troops to the United States from overseas service. In June 1946. the USS Chilton was utilized as a floating laboratory during testing of the atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll. In addition to numerous humanitarian missions, the USS Chilton and crew served in the naval blockade of Cuba during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and in May 1969 was assigned to the task force assisting in the recovery of the Apollo 10 crew following their successful moon orbital mission. On July 1, 1972, after three decades of honorable and meritorious service to the people of the United States of America, the USS Chilton was decommissioned as a naval vessel., This marker is a memorial to the men who faithfully served on the USS Chilton and to the patriotism demonstrated by the people of Chilton County.