View source for USS Walter B. Cobb

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{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Walter B. Cobb (APD-106).jpg|300px|AlternateTextHere]]
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{{Infobox Ship Career
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|Ship country=US
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=[[Coxswain]] [[Walter B. Cobb]] (1919-1942), [[U.S. Navy]] [[sailor]] and [[Silver Star]] recipient
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co-[[Hingham, Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=15 January 1944
|Ship launched=23 February 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship reclassified=redesignated APD-106 on 15 July 1944
|Ship commissioned=25 April 1945
|Ship decommissioned=29 March 1946
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|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=In reserve at Mayport, Florida 
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{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country=US
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1957}}
|Ship commissioned=6 February 1951
|Ship decommissioned=15 May 1957
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=15 January 1966
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Transferred to the Republic of China, 22 February 1966; sank 21 April 1966 after collision while under tow to Taiwan
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{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
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|Ship class=[[Crosley class high speed transport|''Crosley''-class]] [[high-speed transport]] 
|Ship displacement=1,450 tons
|Ship length=306 ft (93 m) overall
|Ship beam=36 ft 10 in (11.2 m)
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
|Ship propulsion=2 [[Combustion Engineering]] DR [[boilers]] <br/>Turbo-electric drive with 2 [[General Electric]] steam [[turbines]] <br/>2 solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb. 3-bladed [[propeller]]s, 8.5 ft. diameter,  7 ft 7 inch pitch <br/>12,000 hp (8.9 MW) <br/>2 [[rudder]]s
|Ship speed=23 knots (43 km/h)
|Ship range=359 tons oil <br/>3,700 [[nautical mile|nmi.]] at 15 knots <br/>6,000 [[nautical mile|nmi.]] at 12 knots
|Ship complement=204 (12 officers, 192 enlisted)
|Ship troops=4 [[LCVP]]s, 162 troops
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=1 × 5 in (127 mm) <br/>6 × 40 mm (3×2) <br/>6 × 20 mm (6×1) <br/>2 [[depth charge]] tracks
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'''USS ''Walter B. Cobb'' (DE-596/APD-106)''' was a [[Crosley class high speed transport|''Crosley''-class]] [[high speed transport]] of the [[United States Navy]], named after [[Coxswain]] [[Walter B. Cobb]] (1919 - 1942), who was posthumously awarded the [[Silver Star]] for his gallant service in the [[Battle of Savo Island]] aboard {{USS|Mugford|DD-389}} and {{USS|Ralph Talbot|DD-390}}.  Cobb was a Pearl Harbor Survivor on [[USS West Virginia (BB-48)]].  He went on to serve on USS Mugford where, on August 7, 1942, he was blown off the ship during a Japanese aerial attack.  Uninjured, he was picked up by USS Ralph Talbot.  On August 9, the Ralph Talbot was hit by a Japanese aerial attack in which Cobb was killed.<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w2/walter_b_cobb.htm</ref><ref>http://www.usswestvirginia.org/veterans/personalpage.php?id=655</ref>  

==History==
''Walter B. Cobb'' (DE-596) was laid down on 15 January 1944 at [[Hingham, Massachusetts]], by the [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]]; launched on 23 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Huey Cobb; reclassified as a high-speed transport and redesignated APD-106 on 15 July 1944; and commissioned on 25 April 1945, Lt. Comdr. R. E. Parker, USNR, in command.

Following shakedown in [[Guantanamo Bay]], Cuba, ''Walter B. Cobb'' departed [[Hampton Roads]], Va., on 24 June, bound for the California coast; emerged from the Panama Canal on 1 July; and arrived at San Diego a week later. She conducted amphibious training exercises out of that port into August, preparing for the assault on the Japanese home islands. Shifting to [[Oceanside, California]], on the 13th, ''Walter B. Cobb'' embarked [[Underwater Demolition Team]] (UDT) 27. But the following day, 14 August, Japan capitulated, obviating further invasions.

There now remained the occupation of the erstwhile enemy's land. ''Walter B. Cobb'' got underway for Japan on the 17th, steamed via [[Pearl Harbor]], and entered [[Tokyo Bay]] on 4 September. Her embarked UDT 27 reconnoitered beaches, marked and mapped landing areas, and generally helped to set the stage for the occupation landings in the Tokyo area. The ship then returned, via [[Guam]] and [[Eniwetok]], to Pearl Harbor and joined in the massive sealift of demobilized military men, Operation "Magic Carpet."

''Walter B, Cobb'' made a cruise between Pearl Harbor and [[San Diego, California]] before sailing on 30 October 1945 for the Philippines. Proceeding via Guam, she arrived at [[Manila]] on 13 November 1945; later touched at [[Subic Bay]], [[Samar]], and [[Leyte]]; and made two other visits to Manila before departing the Philippines on 22 January 1946. She sailed to [[San Pedro, California]], and thence moved south to the [[Panama Canal Zone|Canal Zone]] before making port at [[New York]] on 9 March. Decommissioned on 29 March 1946, at [[Green Cove Springs, Florida]], the ship was subsequently towed to [[Mayport, Florida]], in April 1948, for berthing. She remained in reserve there until the communist invasion of [[South Korea]] in the summer of 1950.

As a result of the Navy's increased need for ships, ''Walter B. Cobb'' was recommissioned on 6 February 1951, Lt. Comdr. William D. Craig, USNR, in command. The ship conducted shakedown in Guantanamo Bay before engaging in amphibious exercises off [[Little Creek, Virginia]], her new home port. From 1951 to 1954, ''Walter B. Cobb'' was homeported at Little Creek, Va., and made two [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] deployments, as well as three [[Midshipman|midshipmen]]'s cruises—to England and [[Ireland]]; to [[Canada]] and [[Cuba]]; and to [[Brazil]]. After landing exercises at Little Creek and at [[Onslow Beach, North Carolina]], ''Walter B. Cobb'' got underway from Little Creek on 30 November 1954, bound for the west coast.

==Fate==
Homeported at [[Long Beach, California]], ''Walter B. Cobb'' spent her next tour of duty primarily deployed to the Far East—from the spring of 1955 through the summer of 1956. She conducted local operations and exercises out of [[Yokosuka]], [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]], and [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]] before she returned, via Pearl Harbor, to the west coast of the United States for decommissioning. On 15 May 1957, ''Walter B. Cobb'' was placed out of commission and in reserve at the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]], [[Vallejo, California]]. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy list]] on 15 January 1966.

Sold to [[Taiwan]] on 22 February 1966, ''Walter B. Cobb'' and {{USS|Gantner|APD-42}} were accepted by the [[Republic of China Navy]] on 15 March 1966. The Chinese dispatched tug ''Ta Tung'' to tandem-tow the two transports to Taiwan. While en route to the western Pacific, the two APD's collided on 21 April 1966 and both suffered heavy damage. ''Gantner'' was towed to [[Treasure Island, California]], but ''Walter B. Cobb'', however, listed progressively from 18 to 40 degrees while settling aft. At 2340 on 21 April 1966, the former high-speed transport filled with water and sank, stern first, in 2,100 fathoms of water.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w2/walter_b_cobb.htm}}
*{{NVR|http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/APD106.htm}}
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w2/walter_b_cobb.htm  history.navy.mil: USS ''Walter B. Cobb'']
*[http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/APD106.htm nvr.navy.mil: APD-106]
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/04/04106.htm     navsource.org: USS ''Walter B. Cobb'']
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/apd106.htm     hazegray.org: USS ''Walter B. Cobb'']

{{Crosley class transport}}
{{Rudderow class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter B. Cobb (APD-106)}}
[[Category:Crosley class high speed transports]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Navy Kentucky-related ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:Crosley class transports of the Republic of China Navy]]