View source for USS William J. Pattison

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{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS William J. Pattison (APD-104).jpg|300px]], 
|Ship caption=USS ''William J. Pattison'' anchored in [[Japan]]ese waters sometime between 27 August 1945 and 30 September 1945
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1944}}
|Ship name=USS ''William J. Pattison''
|Ship namesake=[[Signalman]] Third Class [[William J. Pattison]] (1921-1943), a [[U.S. Navy]] [[sailor]] and [[Navy Cross]] recipient
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard]], Inc., [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]], [[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=4 January 1944
|Ship launched=15 February 1944
|Ship sponsor=Miss Sally McKillop
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=27 February 1945
|Ship decommissioned=March 1946
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship struck=1 June 1960
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=From [[destroyer escort]] (DE-594) to [[high-speed transport]] (APD-104) 17 July 1944
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 18 January 1962
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=Laid down as [[Rudderow class destroyer escort|''Rudderow''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] USS ''William J. Pattison'' (DE-594)
}}
{{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 × {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}} gun<br/>• 6 × [[Bofors 40 mm|40 mm guns]]<br/>• 6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]<br/>• 2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
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}}
|}
'''USS ''William J. Pattison'' (APD-104)''', ex-'''DE-594''', was a [[United States Navy]] [[high speed transport|high-speed transport]] in commission from 1945 to 1946.

==Construction and commissioning==
''William J. Pattison'' was laid down as the [[Rudderow class destroyer escort|''Rudderow''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] USS ''William J. Pattison'' (DE-594) on 4 January 1944 by [[Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard]], Inc., at [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]], [[Massachusetts]], and was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 15 February 1944, sponsored by Miss Sally McKillop. The ship was reclassified as a [[Crosley class transport|''Crosley''-class]] [[high-speed transport]] and redesignated APD-104 on 17 July 1944. After conversion to her new role, she was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 27 February 1945 with [[Lieutenant Commander]] Leslie W. Bennett, [[USNR]], in command.

== Service history ==
===World War II===
Following [[Shakedown (testing)|shakedown]] training out of [[Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], and [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] training at [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]], ''William J. Pattison'' underwent post-shakedown repairs at the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] in [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], [[Maine]], between 20 April 1945 and 27 April 1945.

On 27 April 1945, ''William J. Pattison'' departed [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire|Portsmouth]], [[New Hampshire]], bound for [[New York City]]. There she rendezvoused with the [[Transport (ship)|transport]] [[USS General William Weigel (AP-119)|USS ''General William Weigel'' (AP-119)]], and the two ships got underway on 1 May 1945 and headed for the [[West Indies]]. After a stop at [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], [[Puerto Rico]], from 4 May 1945 to 8 May 1945, the two ships continued on to the [[Panama Canal Zone]], where they arrived on 10 May 1945. ''William J. Pattison'' transited the [[Panama Canal]] on 12 May 1945 and set course for [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[California]]. Diverted en route in order to provide emergency medical treatment to an [[appendicitis]] victim on board a [[Liberty ship]], she did not reach San Diego until 22 May 1945.

''William J. Pattison'' remained at San Diego only two days before putting to sea on 24 May 1945 in company with high-speed transports [[USS Begor (APD-127)|USS ''Begor'' (APD-127)]] and [[USS Cavallaro (APD-128)|USS ''Cavallaro'' (APD-128]]. After a six-day voyage filled with gunnery drills and tactical exercises, the three high-speed transports arrived in [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Territory of Hawaii]], on 30 May 1945. ''William J, Pattison'' spent the next two weeks in amphibious and [[underwater demolition team]] training in [[Hawaii]]an waters, mostly at [[Maui]].

On 13 June 1945, ''William J. Pattison'' embarked 10 [[Commissioned officer|officers]] and 50 [[Enlisted man|enlisted men]] and got underway for the [[Marshall Islands]], in company with ''Cavallaro'' and [[SS Cape Meares|SS ''Cape Meares'']]. The three ships entered the [[lagoon]] at [[Eniwetok]] on 21 June 1945, but on 23 June 1945 got underway again with a [[convoy]] bound for [[Ulithi Atoll]] in the [[Caroline Islands]]. ''William J. Pattison'' remained at Ulithi from 26 June 1945 to 1 July 1945, when she began the two-day voyage to [[Leyte]] in the [[Philippine Islands]]. After eight days at Leyte, she headed back to Ulithi Atoll on 12 July 1945.

In late July and early August 1945, ''William J. Pattison'' made two voyages from Ulithi Atoll to [[Okinawa]]. Though both visits were somewhat enlivened by [[strategic bombing|air raid]] alerts, she saw no action. The [[surrender of Japan]] which ended [[World War II]] on 15 August 1945 found the ship on her way from Okinawa to the [[Mariana Islands]]. 

===Postwar===

''William J. Pattison'' arrived at [[Guam]] in the Marianas on 17 August 1945 and embarked [[Underwater Demolition Team 18]]. On 20 August 1945, she departed Guam in company with ''Begor'' and a group of [[Tank landing ship|tank landing ships (LSTs)]] to join the [[United States Third Fleet]] off [[Japan]]. ''William J. Pattison'' and ''Begor'' soon parted company with the slower LSTs and made the rendezvous with the Third Fleet on the night of 24-25 August 1945.

[[Image:USS William J. Pattison (APD-104) alongside Nagato.jpg|200px|left|thumb|USS ''William J. Pattison'' (right) alongside the [[Japan]]ese [[battleship]] [[Japanese battleship Nagato|''Nagato'']] in [[Tokyo Bay]] in September 1945.]]''William J. Pattison'' arrived in [[Tokyo Bay]] late in the afternoon of 27 August 1945 to begin her part in the postwar [[occupation of Japan]]. On 30 August 1945, she supported the [[United States Marines]] who occupied [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka Naval Base]], and her underwater demolition team unit carried out an inspection of the base's [[harbor]] facilities. Later, she participated in the demilitarization of captured Japanese [[warship]]s. For the next month, ''William J. Pattison'' steamed among various Japanese bases located throughout the Japanese [[Japanese Archipelago|Home Islands]], reconnoitering to prepare for their occupation by [[United States Marine Corps]], [[United States Army]], or U.S. Navy men. She also helped with further demilitarization projects.

On 30 September, the ship got underway on the first leg of her journey back to the [[United States]]. After stops at Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor, she arrived back in San Diego on 22 October 1945.

''William J. Pattison'' remained active with the [[Amphibious Force]]s, [[United States Pacific Fleet]], into early 1946, when she moved to [[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]].

==Decommissioning and disposal==
''William J. Pattison'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] at Green Cove Springs sometime in March 1946. She remained in [[Reserve Fleet|reserve]] there with the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] until 1 June 1960, when her name was stricken from the [[Navy List]].

On 18 January 1962, ''William J. Pattison'' was sold to the [[First Steel and Ship Corporation]] of [[New York City]] for scrapping.

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w8/william_j_pattison.htm}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/04/04104.htm NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive USS William J. Pattison (APD-104)]

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:William J. Pattison (APD-104)}}
[[Category:Crosley class transports]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Ships at the Japanese Instrument of Surrender]]
[[Category:United States Navy New York-related ships]]