View source for USS Ringness

{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Ringness (APD-100) on 23 February 1946 (NH 73857).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1951}}
|Ship name=USS ''Ringness''
|Ship namesake=Henry Raymond Ringness
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard]], [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]], [[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=23 December 1943
|Ship launched=5 February 1944
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Henry R. Ringness
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=25 October 1944
|Ship decommissioned=5 June 1946
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship struck=15 September 1974
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=LPR-100, 1 July 1969
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=1 [[battle star]] for [[World War II]] service
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping, 1 July 1975
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|2130|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|12|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=162
|Ship complement=204
|Ship armament=*1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun
*6 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm guns]]
*6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]
*2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
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'''USS ''Ringness'' (APD-100)''' was a {{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}} that served in the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946. After spending 29 years in reserve, she was sold for scrapping in 1975.

==Namesake==
Henry Raymond Ringness was born on 17 August 1912 in [[Morris, Minnesota|Morris]], [[Minnesota]]. He appointed [[First Lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]], [[Medical Corps (United States Army)|Medical Corps]] Reserve, [[United States Army]], on 14 June 1939.

On 28 June 1939 Ringness resigned from the U.S. Army to accept a [[Commissioned officer|commission]] in the U.S. Navy. He was commissioned as a regular assistant [[surgeon]] with rank of [[lieutenant, junior grade]] from 7 July 1941. He served at the [[Naval Medical School]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], at [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]], [[Florida]], and in the [[First Marine Aircraft Wing]], [[Fleet Marine Force]]. He was promoted to [[Lieutenant]] on 15 June 1942.

Ringness served on [[Guadalcanal]] during the [[Guadalcanal campaign]] in 1942 and was mortally wounded during the [[Guadalcanal Campaign#Battleship bombardment of Henderson Field|Japanese battleship bombardment]] of [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]] on the night of 13–14 October 1942. Despite his wounds, he continued to assist other wounded personnel. Three days later, on 17 October 1942, he died as a result of his injuries. He was posthumously awarded the [[Navy Cross]].

==History==
===Construction and commissioning===
''Ringness'' was laid down as the {{sclass|Rudderow|destroyer escort}} USS ''Ringness'' (DE-590), on 23 December 1943 by [[Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard]], [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]], [[Massachusetts]], and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 5 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Henry R. Ringness. The ship was reclassified as a {{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}} and redesignated APD-100 on 17 July 1944. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 25 October 1944.

=== Pacific War ===
Following [[Shakedown cruise|shakedown]] off [[Bermuda]] and [[amphibious warfare]] exercises in [[Chesapeake Bay]], ''Ringness'' steamed in [[convoy]] for the [[Pacific]] on 21 December 1944. She transited the [[Panama Canal]], stopped at [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[California]], and reached [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Territory of Hawaii]], on 15 January 1945. After training in the [[Hawaii]]an area, she departed Pearl Harbor on 1 March 1945 for [[Funafuti]] in the [[Ellice Islands]], [[Purvis Bay|Port Purvis]] on [[Nggela Islands|Florida Island]] in the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]], and [[Ulithi Atoll]] in the [[Caroline Islands]], where she arrived on 22 March 1945.

After further training ''Ringness'' proceeded on 24 March 1945 to [[Saipan]], getting underway for [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] on 27 March 1945, escorting [[Task Group]] 51.2 composed of escorts, [[Transport (ship)|transports]], and [[cargo ship]]s, take part in the [[Okinawa campaign]].

====Okinawa campaign====
The [[amphibious landing]]s on Okinawa took place on 1 April 1945, and during the two days following, ''Ringness'' engaged in anti-[[Shinyo (suicide boat)|suicide boat]] patrol along the southeast coast of Okinawa, where intelligence reports had located [[Japan]]ese suicide-boat nests. On the night of 2 April 1945, ''Ringness'' attacked a Japanese [[midget submarine]] with undetermined results.

On 3 April 1945 ''Ringness'' steamed to Ulithi Atoll for supplies, returning to Okinawa with Task Group 53.8. Upon arrival she was assigned to [[anti-submarine]] and [[anti-aircraft]] patrol, undergoing numerous air attacks. This patrol lasted only four days before she steamed as a convoy escort to Saipan.

On 23 April 1945 ''Ringness'' again steamed for Okinawa, escorting a convoy of [[Landing Ship, Tank|tank landing ships (LSTs)]] and [[Landing Ship Medium|medium landing ships (LSMs)]]. On 27 April 1945, a Japanese [[submarine]] fired two [[torpedo]]es at her. ''Ringness'' replied with gunfire and a [[depth charge]] attack, with undetermined results.

On 30 April 1945, ''Ringness'' arrived at Okinawa for the third time since the Okinawa campaign began, remaining there for the entire month of May 1945. During this time she maintained her various anti-submarine and anti-aircraft screen stations. On 4 May ''Ringness'' witnessed the death dive of a ''[[kamikaze]]'' onto the flight deck of the [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Sangamon|CVE-26|3}}, turning ''Sangamon'' into a roaring inferno. ''Ringness'' stood by the crippled vessel and rescued some of the men forced over the side by flames and explosions.

On 11 May 1945, ''Ringness'' proceeded to [[Radar Picket]] Station 15 for [[rescue]] and [[Marine salvage|salvage]] work on [[destroyer]]s {{USS|Hugh W. Hadley|DD-774|3}} and {{USS|Evans|DD-552|3}}, which had born the brunt of one of the heaviest Japanese air attacks of this period. On the night of 16 May 1945, just off Okinawa, ''Ringness'' dodged an oncoming ''kamikaze'', getting credit for shooting it down. At the end of May, ''Ringness'' escorted a convoy to Ulithi Atoll, arriving there on 6 June 1945.

====Convoy escort duty====
''Ringness'' then proceeded on to [[Leyte]] in the [[Philippine Islands]]. After further convoy escort duty between Leyte, Okinawa, and Ulithi Atoll, ''Ringness'' was diverted from her escort duty on 3 August 1945 and rescued 39 survivors of the sinking of the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|3}} including its captain [[Charles B. McVay III]].

===Post-World War II service===
''Ringness'' was in [[Leyte Gulf]] at the end of World War II on 15 August 1945. She proceeded to Okinawa, then participated in the occupation landings at [[Jinsen, Korea|Jinsen]], [[Korea]]. On 26 September, ''Ringness'' was detached and departed Jinsen for Okinawa.

On 29 September 1945, ''Ringness'' commenced her second occupation operation as sole escort for [[Task Unit]] 78.1.94 bound for [[Tianjin|Tientsin]], [[China]]. On 9 October 1945 she shifted to [[Qingdao]], China, serving as 7th Amphibious Force Beachmaster (Director of Disembarkation) [[Flagship]]. She remained at Qingdao until departing for the [[United States]] on 29 January 1946. She arrived at [[San Pedro, California|San Pedro]], California, on 23 February 1946, transited the [[Panama Canal]], and put into [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]], on 14 March 1946.

===Decommissioning and fate===
''Ringness'' reported for lay-up at [[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]], on 4 April 1946. She was subsequently towed from Green Cove Springs to [[Naval Station Mayport]] at [[Mayport, Florida|Mayport]], Florida, and [[Naval Station Charleston]] at [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]], at various times in 1947 and 1948.

''Ringness'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] and placed in the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] on 5 June 1946, berthed at [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs]]. In 1959 she was towed to Norfolk, where she remained as part of the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk]] until berthed at [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Orange]] in [[Orange, Texas|Orange]], [[Texas]], in 1966 as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet Texas Group. Reclassified as an "amphibious transport, small," and redesignated LPR-100 on 1 July 1969, ''Ringness'' was sold for scrapping on 1 July 1975.

==Awards==
''Ringness'' earned one [[battle star]] for World War II service.

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/ringness.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Ringness (APD-100)}}
* {{navsource|10/04/04100|USS Ringness}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ringness (DE-590)}}
[[Category:Crosley-class high speed transports]]
[[Category:Rudderow-class destroyer escorts]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hingham, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]