View source for USS Admiral W. L. Capps

{{Short description|United States Navy transport ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Admiral W. L. Capps (AP-121) underway in San Pedro Bay, California (USA), 14 November 1944.jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Admiral W. L. Capps'' (AP-121) in San Pedro Bay, California painted with [[dazzle camouflage]].
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= [[United States]]
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name= USS ''Admiral W. L. Capps'' (AP-121)
|Ship namesake= Admiral [[Washington L. Capps|Washington Lee Capps]], USN (1864–1935)
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|Ship builder=*[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation|Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard Inc.]],
*[[Alameda, California]]
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|Ship laid down= 15 December 1942
|Ship launched= 20 February 1944
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. James Reed
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|Ship acquired= 18 September 1944
|Ship commissioned= 18 September 1944
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned= 8 May 1946
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|Ship identification={{IMO Number|8643092}}
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship renamed= USAT ''General Hugh J. Gaffey''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship renamed= USNS ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' (T-AP-121), 1 March 1950
|Ship namesake= General [[Hugh Joseph Gaffey|Hugh J. Gaffey]], US Army
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship struck= 9 October 1969 and 25 October 1993
|Ship reinstated= 1 November 1978 as [[Barracks ship|barracks hulk]] IX-507
|Ship fate= Expended as a target 16 June 2000
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Admiral W. S. Benson|transport|2}}
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement= *9,676 tons dockside
*20,120 tons fully laden
|Ship length= {{convert|608|ft|11|in}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|75|ft|6|in}}
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|Ship draft= {{convert|26|ft|6|in}}
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|Ship power= 19,000 [[Horsepower#Shaft horsepower|shp]]
|Ship propulsion=[[turbo-electric transmission]], twin [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|19|kn|km/h}}
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|Ship capacity= {{convert|100000|cuft}} of cargo
|Ship troops= 5,200
|Ship complement= 618 officers and enlisted
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|Ship armament=*4 × [[5"/38 caliber gun]] mounts
*8 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm]] gun mounts
*14 × twin [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]] gun mounts
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'''USS ''Admiral W. L. Capps'' (AP-121)''', an {{sclass|Admiral W. S. Benson|transport|2}}, was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for Rear Admiral [[Washington L. Capps]] (1864–1935). Unusually, the first — {{USS|Capps|DD-550}} — served concurrently with the ''Admiral W. L. Capps''. ''Via'' a transfer to the [[United States Army]] and then back to the Navy, the ship was renamed '''USNS ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' (T-AP-121)''', making her the only ship to be named for [[Hugh Joseph Gaffey]].

==Built in California==
Her keel was laid down on 15 December 1942 at [[Alameda, California]], by the [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation|Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard Inc.]], Inc., under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract (MC hull 679). She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 20 February 1944 sponsored by Mrs. James Reed and delivered to the Navy and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 18 September 1944.

==World War II Service==

===Transporting troops for Pacific campaigns===
Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] training along the [[U.S. West Coast]], the transport departed San Francisco, on 23 November, bound for the southwestern Pacific Ocean. En route (7 December) she visited [[Nouméa]], [[New Caledonia]], where she disembarked [[United States Marine Corps|marines]] and took on board passengers headed for [[Guadalcanal]], arriving 10 December. From that island, ''Admiral W. L. Capps'' carried another group of passengers to [[Espiritu Santo]]. She embarked almost 3500 troops at the latter port and set a course for home where she arrived on the day after Christmas.

The ship put to sea again on 21 February 1945 bound for [[Jayapura|Hollandia]], [[New Guinea]], whence she proceeded to the [[Philippines]]. The ship arrived at [[Leyte]] on 20 March and departed that island on 8 April for the United States.

After arriving at San Francisco, late that month, she moved north to [[Seattle]], Washington, where she embarked almost 5000 troops to reinforce American units fighting on [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. Sailing on 7 May, the transport stopped at [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Eniwetok]], and [[Ulithi]] before reaching Okinawa on 2 July. Next she visited [[Saipan]] on 12 and 13 July, before getting underway on the latter day bound ultimately for the [[Panama Canal]] and the [[East Coast of the United States]].

===Supporting Atlantic operations===
''Admiral W. L. Capps'' entered port at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on 4 August and, while undergoing voyage repairs, received word at mid-month that hostilities in the Pacific had ended. She stood out of Norfolk on 1 September, with members of the [[French Navy]] among her passengers. After dropping them off at [[Marseille]], France, and embarking American troops, she headed back toward the United States and arrived in Norfolk on 20 September.

Five days later, the ship once more set out for the [[Mediterranean Sea]], this time to repatriate some 3765 former Italian [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. After stopping at [[Naples]] and [[Marseille-Fos Port|Marseille]], she returned to [[Newport News, Virginia]], on 19 October. Between that time and mid-December, the ship made two more round-trip voyages to France and back, one to [[Le Havre]] and the other to Marseille, returning American servicemen home.

===End-of-war operations===
On 29 December, she put to sea to return to the Pacific. At [[Pearl Harbor]], the transport embarked troops and continued her voyage west on 16 January 1946. She disembarked one group of passengers at [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], took on almost 4700 more, and headed for Seattle on 30 January. In March, the ship made a round-trip voyage from the [[U.S. West Coast]] to Okinawa, returning to San Francisco with over 4800 troops. In April, she moved from the west coast to New York City which she reached on 24 April.

On 8 May 1946, ''Admiral W. L. Capps'' was decommissioned and returned to the [[Maritime Commission]]. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] in June 1946.

==Post-war service==
The [[Maritime Commission]] transferred the ship to the [[United States Army]] which named her '''USAT ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'''''. She served the [[Army Transport Service]] until 1 March 1950 when the Navy re-acquired her. Retaining her Army name, the transport was not re-commissioned, but instead was assigned to the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] and manned by a civil service crew. '''USNS ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' (T-AP-121)''' spent almost two decades carrying men and material to American installations throughout the Far East and the Pacific Ocean.  Transported troops and accompanying families to and from overseas assignments in Guam, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Okinawa.<ref>personal experience sailing on the Gaffey from San Francisco to Okinawa in 1956 and returning in 1958 on USS Breckinridge.  We transported a brigade of Marines to Inchon, Korea, with ports of call in Guam, Yokohama, Inchon, Taiwan and Okinawa.</ref>

==Korean and Vietnam War support==
She supported American troops in the [[Korean War]] in the early 1950s and performed similar service in the [[Vietnam War]] in the mid-1960s. On 4 November 1968, ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' was transferred to the Maritime Administration on a temporary basis to be laid up with the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] facility at [[Suisun Bay, California]].

On 31 August 1969 she was transferred permanently to Maritime Administration custody. Her name was again struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 9 October 1969.
[[File:Barracks ship General Hugh J. Gaffey (IX-507) at Pearl Harbor c1986.JPEG|thumb|Barracks ship ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' (IX-507) at Pearl Harbor, in 1987.]]

==Service as a barracks hulk==
In 1978 the transport was reacquired by the Navy a second time and her name reinstated on the [[Naval Vessel Register]]. Redesignated an [[unclassified miscellaneous vessel]], '''IX-507''', ''General Hugh J. Gaffey'' was placed in service in November 1978 at [[Bremerton, Washington]], to serve as a [[barracks ship]] for the crews of ships undergoing major overhaul.

==Fate==
The transport was sunk in [[RIMPAC]] 2000 EXERCISE as a missile target, 16 June 2000, position: 023° 35' 01.0" North, 159° 50' 00.2" West, depth: 2,730 fathoms

==Awards==
*[[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[Navy Occupation Medal]] with "ASIA" clasp
*[[National Defense Service Medal]] with star
*[[Korean Service Medal]]
*[[Vietnam Campaign Medal]] with one [[campaign star]]
*[[United Nations Korea Medal]]
*[[Korean War Service Medal]] (Korea)

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/admiral-w-l-capps.html}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22121.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive]

{{Admiral W. S. Benson class transport}}
{{2000 shipwrecks}}

{{coord|23|35|01|N|159|50|00.2|W |source:enwiki-plaintext-parser|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral W. L. Capps (AP-121)}}
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Admiral W. S. Benson-class transports|W. L. Capps (AP-121)]]<!-- different sortkey since all begin with "Admiral" -->
[[Category:Ships built in Alameda, California]]
[[Category:Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 2000]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Transports of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Type P2 ships of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]