View source for USS Catskill (LSV-1)

{{Other ships|USS Catskill}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Catskill (LSV-1) underway at sea on 30 March 1945 (80-G-326325).jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Catskill'' on 30 March 1945
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1970}}
|Ship name= USS ''Catskill'' 
|Ship namesake=[[Catskill Mountains]] in New York
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[Willamette Iron and Steel Works]], [[Portland, Oregon]]
|Ship laid down= 12 July 1941, as CM-6 ([[minelayer]])
|Ship launched= 19 May 1942
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 30 August 1946
|Ship reclassified=*AP-106 (transport), 1 May 1943
*LSV-1 (Landing Ship Vehicle), 21 April 1944
*MCS-1 (Mine Countermeasures Support Ship), 18 October 1956
|Ship struck= 1 July 1961
|Ship reinstated=1 June 1964
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned= 6 October 1967
|Ship decommissioned= December 1970
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=*3 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
*5 [[campaign star]]s (Vietnam)
|Ship fate=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[Landing ship]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|5875|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|9040|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length={{convert|455|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|60|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[Combustion Engineering]] 2-drum boilers
*2 × [[General Electric]] geared turbines
*2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship boats=*31 × [[DUKW]]s, plus [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]]s (LSV configuration)
*20 × {{convert|36|ft|m|abbr=on}}-MSLs (MCS configuration)
|Ship troops= 868 officers and enlisted (LSV configuration)
|Ship complement= 400+ officers and enlisted men
|Ship armament=*4 × single [[5"/38 caliber gun]] mounts
*4 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] guns
*20 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] guns
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=2 helicopters (MCS configuration)
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Catskill'' (LSV-1)''' was a [[Amphibious warfare ship|vehicle landing ship]] built for the [[United States Navy]] during World War II. The lead ship of her class, she was named for the [[Catskill Mountains]] in southeastern [[New York State]].

==Service history==
Originally designed as a cruiser-minelayer (CM-6); she laid down on 12 July 1941 under a contract issued by the US Navy. She was launched on 19 May 1942 by Willamette Iron and Steel Corporation of Portland, Oregon; sponsored by Mrs. J. G. McPherson.  While under construction, she was reclassified to a troop transport ''AP-106'' on 1 May 1943, and then to a vehicle landing ship ''LSV-1'' on 21 April 1944, because she was readily adaptable to the role of an urgently needed carrier of amphibious vehicles.  It appears from available sources that the ship was never actually delivered to the Navy before it was commissioned on 30 June 1944 as a landing ship although that would indicate more than two years passed from her launching to completion even in the midst of WWII.

Further, the [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] says the vessel was originally ordered as a troopship although her sister [[USS Ozark]] was ordered as a minelayer and Catskill's design is more as a minelayer than as a troop carrier leading to some doubt on the accuracy of the DANFS record.

===1944===
''Catskill'' sailed from [[San Diego]] on 12 August 1944 for Hawaii, where she embarked [[United States Marine Corps|marines]], and proceeded by way of [[Eniwetok]] for [[Manus Island|Manus]], where she joined the transport group of the Southern Attack Force for the assault on [[Leyte]]. This group sailed on 14 October for the return to the Philippines, and entered [[Leyte Gulf]] without event, anchoring off [[Dulag, Leyte|Dulag]] on 20 October to launch the initial attack. The landing was successful, and ''Catskill'' completed her offloading and was able to retire in the afternoon of 22 October, before the start of the [[battle for Leyte Gulf]]. ''Catskill'' returned to [[New Guinea]] and then sailed to [[Morotai]], where from 5 to 10 November 1944 she loaded troops and cargo under almost continuous enemy air raids. As her convoy proceeded north with these reinforcements for Leyte, it came under enemy air attack on 13 November, and ''Catskill''{{'}}s gunners contributed to shooting down Japanese aircraft. Unloading in Leyte Gulf took place on 14 November, and ''Catskill'' got underway at once for Manus, and New Guinea, where she took part in special training.

===1945===
Returning to Manus 21 December 1944, ''Catskill'' sailed 10 days later with the Lingayen Attack Force, which came under air attack, although not in ''Catskill''{{'}}s sector, as it made its final approach. On 9 January 1945 the landings were successfully made on beaches that the Japanese had considered too difficult for an amphibious assault. The force was under repeated air attack, but ''Catskill'' accomplished her part of the landing, and cleared [[Invasion of Lingayen Gulf|Lingayen]] for Leyte 10 January. Anchoring two days later, she loaded [[United States Army|Army]] troops and cargo for the first reinforcement of Lingayen 27 January. Arriving in the [[Solomon Islands]] 11 February 1945 ''Catskill'' began intensive training for the [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] operation. On 21 March, she anchored in [[Ulithi]], staging area for the massive assault, and on 27 March got underway for the initial assault on 1 April, in which she landed units of the [[6th Marines]]. That night, she moved out to sea, and for the next four days, returned to the beachhead area daily to complete her unloading of men and cargo. Returning to [[Saipan]] 9 April, ''Catskill'' continued on to San Francisco, arriving 13 May. Between 16 May and 14 June 1945 ''Catskill'' made a voyage from San Francisco to [[Pearl Harbor]] carrying vehicles and general cargo, and steamed to Pearl Harbor once again. She loaded troops there for Eniwetok, Saipan, and Guam, and after carrying out this assignment, proceeded to [[Manila]], arriving 5 July. Here she remained until 20 September, when she sailed laden with Army troops for the occupation of Japan. ''Catskill'' anchored in [[Wakayama (city)|Wakayama Bay]] on 25 September, and cleared Japan 1 October for the Philippines, where she embarked homeward-bound servicemen. She arrived in San Francisco 27 October, and sailed again 10 November on the first of two more voyages to bring troops home from [[Guam]], Ulithi, [[Peleliu]], and Eniwetok.
On 21 December 1945 ''Catskill'' sailed from San Diego for Guam with the 90th Marine Corps Replacement Draft which was eventually headed for China. She arrived in Guam on 18 January 1946.

===Decommissioning and conversion, 1946–1967===
On 10 February 1946 ''Catskill'' arrived at San Diego, where she was placed out of commission in reserve 30 August 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group, ''Catskill'' was reclassified under [[Ship Characteristics Board|SCB 123]] as mine countermeasures support ship ''MCS-1'' on 18 October 1956. Struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] 1 July 1961, she was reinstated 1 June 1964.

Converted to an MCS in [[fiscal year]] 1964 at Boland Machine Manufacturing Company of [[New Orleans]], Louisiana from 25 June 1964 to 8 September 1967, ''Catskill'' (MCS-1) was recommissioned 6 October 1967.

===Vietnam, 1967–1970===
[[File:USS Catskill (MCS-1) underway in the Gulf of Tonkin, 29 June 1969 (USN 1139831).jpg|thumb|''Catskill'' off Vietnam, in 1969.]]
During the [[Vietnam War]] ''Catskill'' participated in the following campaigns:

* [[Tet Offensive|Tet 69/Counteroffensive]] (5 to 11 May 1969)
* Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 (9 to 18 June 1969)
* Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 (14 March to 12 April 1970)
* Sanctuary Counteroffensive (28 to 30 June 1970)
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive – Phase VII (1 July 1970)

Decommissioned in December, 1970 at the Naval Shipyard in [[Long Beach, California]], ''Catskill'' was struck from the Naval Register and believed to have been scrapped.

==Awards==
*[[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]] with three [[battle star]]s 
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[Navy Occupation Medal]] with "ASIA" clasp
*[[National Defense Service Medal]]
*[[Vietnam Service Medal]] with five [[campaign star]]s 
*[[Philippine Presidential Unit Citation]]
*[[Philippine Liberation Medal]] with two service stars
*[[Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal]]

==References==
*{{cite journal |last1=Egan |first1=Robert |title=USS Terror and her Family: Part 3: The Conversions (1st Installment) |journal=Warship International |date=June 2019 |volume=LVI |issue=2 |pages=139–165 |issn=0043-0374}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Egan |first1=Robert S.|title=USS Terror and her Family: Part 3: The Conversions (3d Installment) |journal=Warship International |date=2020 |volume=LVII |issue=1 |pages=57–76|issn=0043-0374}}
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/catskill-ii.html}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|USS Catskill (LSV-1)}}
* {{Cite web|title=AP-106 / CM-6 / LSV-1 / MCS-1 ''Catskill''|work=Amphibious Photo Archive
|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/17/1701.htm|access-date=28 April 2007}}

==External links==
* [http://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux/LSV/LSV01-p.html Catskill Class (LSV 1-2) Photographs]

{{US Vehicle Landing Ships}}
{{US Mine Countermeasures Support Ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catskill (Lsv-1)}}
[[Category:Catskill-class vehicle landing ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Catskills|USS Catskill (LSV-1)]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Mine countermeasures support ships of the United States Navy]]