USS Chara (AKA-58)

USS Chara (AKA-58)
Career
Name:	USS Chara
Namesake:	Chara
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey
Launched:	15 March 1944
Commissioned:	14 June 1944
Decommissioned:	21 April 1959
Recommissioned:	25 June 1966
Decommissioned:	March 1972
Reclassified:	AE-31, 25 June 1966
Struck:	10 March 1972
Honours and awards:	4 battle stars (World War II) 7 battle stars (Korea)
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 12 November 1972
General characteristics
Class & type:	Andromeda-class attack cargo ship
Type:	Type C2-S-B1
Displacement:	6,737 long tons (6,845 t)
Length:	459 ft 3 in (139.98 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19 m)
Draft:	26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement:	380
Armament:	• 1 × 5"/38 caliber gun mount

USS Chara (AKA-58) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship named after a star in the constellation Canes Venatici. She was later converted to an ammunition ship and redesignated (AE-31).

Chara (AKA-58) was launched on 15 March 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, New Jersey, under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. E. P. McHugh, acquired by the Navy on 16 March 1944, and commissioned on 14 June 1944, Commander C. B. Hamblett, USNR, in command.

Service history

1944–1949

Chara cleared Norfolk 22 July 1944 for Pearl Harbor, arriving on 10 August for training. Her initial combat action came on 20 October when she hove to in Leyte Gulf, with the Southern Attack Force, and swiftly landed troops and cargo in the momentous assault that was the first step in the liberation of the Philippines. Chara withdrew on 24 October, while the decisive naval Battle of Leyte Gulf raged in the area. She returned to New Guinea to reload essential supplies which she delivered to support the continuing land Battle of Leyte on 18 November.

After rehearsal landings in New Guinea, and staging at Manus, Chara cleared on 31 December 1944 for the assault on Lingayen. As TF 97 penetrated Philippine waters, on 8 January 1945, a Japanese kamikaze attack was hurled at them and succeeded in damaging one escort carrier of the group. On board Chara, three men were wounded, one fatally, as a result of the heavy anti-aircraft fire thrown up by the task force. The assaults were made on 9 January and 10 January, Chara's men landing their troops and cargo successfully despite heavy surf conditions and a beach so difficult that the Japanese never anticipated an amphibious assault in the location. Chara remained in the Leyte area, participating in the landings on San Antonio on 26 January, until 26 March, when she steamed from San Pedro Bay combat-loaded for the beaches of Okinawa.

Once again at Okinawa, her men worked skillfully in an amphibious assault, as Chara landed troops and heavy equipment on 1 April 1945. She remained off Okinawa in this invasion, famous for the Japanese desperation kamikaze attacks, to unload reinforcements and additional equipment until 6 April. After overhaul in the States and a return to Okinawa with cargo on 5 July, Chara returned to San Francisco where she loaded supplies for the Philippines, calling en route for additional supplies at Pearl Harbor, thus beginning a period of cargo operations in the Philippines and to Japan in support of the occupation.

She returned to the States in December 1945, then continued to support forces in the Far East until 1950, carrying men and cargo for the Naval Transportation Service, and after 1 October 1949, for the Military Sea Transportation Service.

1950–1959

Chara replenishing carrier Philippine Sea (CV-47) and destroyer Hollister (DD-788), ca. 1950

With the outbreak of the Korean War, Chara was transferred to Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty as an ammunition ship, transporting and transferring all types of ammunition at sea to fleet units. She cleared San Francisco on 16 September 1950 to replenish TF 77 and support the evacuations of Hungnam and Wonsan before returning to San Francisco for overhaul on 26 March 1951. In her second Korean tour, 19 July 1951 to 18 May 1952, she joined the Mobile Logistics Support Force in operations in the Wonsan-Songjin bomb-line triangle, and in emergency lifts of Korean POWs from Koje-do to Ulsan. Another tour of providing at-sea replenishment of ammunition preceded the end of hostilities.

Chara later alternated duty in the western Pacific with training and upkeep on the west coast. In December 1954 and January 1955, she took part in the evacuation of the Tachen Islands. Active through 1958, Chara was placed out of commission in reserve at Astoria, Oregon, on 21 April 1959.

1966–1972

She was converted to an ammunition ship at Willamette Iron and Steel Works in Portland, Oregon, and recommissioned as AE-31 on 25 June 1966. Chara was finally decommissioned in March 1972, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 10 March 1972. She was sold for scrap on 12 November 1972.

Awards

Chara received four battle stars for service during World War II for the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 20 October and 18 November 1944	Manila Bay-Bicol operations Zambales - San Antonio, 26 January 1945
Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 and 10 January 1945	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and capture of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 6 April 1945

She received seven battle stars for service during the Korean War for the following campaigns:

Korean War Campaign
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
North Korean Aggression 1 to 10 August 1950	Second Korean Winter 28 November to 3 December 1951 16 to 29 December 1951 9 to 23 January 1952 10 to 20 February 1952 26 February to 1 March 1952 13 to 25 March 1952 1 to 7 and 19 to 28 April 1952
Communist China Aggression 14 November 1950 to 24 January 1951	Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 23 August to 5 September 1952 12 to 15 September 1952 26 September to 11 October 1952 27 October to 30 November 1952
First UN Counter Offensive 4 February to 2 March 1951	Third Korean Winter 1 to 23 December 1952 12 to 26 January 1953 6 to 12 and 22 to 27 February 1953 10 to 23 March 1953 5 to 13 April 1953
UN Summer-Fall Offensive 23 August to 2 September 1951 6 to 26 September 1951 19 October to 7 November 1951 20 to 27 November 1951

Chara recieved 8 battle stars in Vietnam for the following campaigns:

Vietnam War Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 22 November to 13 December 1966 25 December 1966 to 18 January 1967 29 January to 15 February 1967 28 February to 6 March 1967	Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 9 to 27 February 1970 8 to 25 March 1970 1 and 9 to 25 April 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 24 October to 11 November 1967 23 November to 15 December 1967 6 to 18 January 1968	Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1 to 18 May 1970 2 May to 6 June 1970 29 to 30 June 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 6 to 16 November 1968 26 November to 1 December 1968 1 to 13 and 17 to 23 January 1969	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 1 to 12 July 1970 8 to 18 May 1971 26 May to 14 June 1971 23 to 30 June 1971
Tet/69 Counteroffensive 23 February to 3 March 1969 17 to 23 March 1969 1 to 18 April 1969	Consolidation I 1 to 5 and 12 to 23 July 1971 27 July to 7 August 1971 15 to 26 August 1971 16 September to 14 October 1971 24 October to 6 November 1971

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Chara (AKA-58/AE-31) at NavSource Naval History
• USS Chara web site
• Military.com: USS Chara
• 51 Years of AKAs