View source for USS Cecil

{{Short description|United States Navy WWII-era attack transport ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

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|Ship image=USS Cecil (APA-96) underway off Portland, Oregon (USA), on 26 September 1944 (BS 75779).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''Cecil''
|Ship namesake=[[Cecil County, Maryland]]
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|Ship builder=[[Western Pipe and Steel Company|Western Pipe & Steel]]
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|Ship laid down=24 June 1943
|Ship launched=27 September 1943
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|Ship christened=''Sea Angler''
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|Ship commissioned=15 September 1944
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|Ship decommissioned=24 May 1946
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|Ship renamed=USS ''Cecil, Steel Admiral''.
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|Ship honours=Two [[battle star]]s for service in World War II.
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|Ship fate=Scrapped October 1973
|Ship notes=*''[[Western Pipe and Steel Company|WPS]] Hull No. 121.''
*''[[US Maritime Commission|MC]] Hull No. 1544.''
*''[[Type C3 ship|Type C3-S-A2]].''
*''Sponsor: Mrs S. Belither.''  Delivered 28 February 1944.
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Bayfield|attack transport}}
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|Ship displacement=8,100 tons, 16,100 tons fully loaded
|Ship length={{convert|492|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|69|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=[[General Electric]] geared turbine, 2 x [[Babcock & Wilcox]] D-type boilers, single [[propeller]], designed shaft [[horsepower]] 8,500
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|Ship speed=18 [[knot (unit)|knots]]
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|Ship boats=12 x [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]], 4 x [[Landing Craft Mechanized|LCM]] (Mk-6), 3 x LCP(L) (MK-IV)
|Ship capacity=4,800 tons (180,500 cu. ft).
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|Ship complement=*Crew: 51 officers, 524 enlisted
*Flag: 43 officers, 108 enlisted.
*Troops: 80 officers, 1,146 enlisted
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|Ship armament=*2 × single [[5"/38 caliber gun|5 inch/38 cal. dual purpose gun]] mounts, one fore and one aft.
*2 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40mm AA gun]] mounts forward, port and starboard.
*2 × single 40 mm AA gun mounts.
*18 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20mm AA gun]] mounts.
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'''USS ''Cecil'' (APA-96)''' was a [[Bayfield class attack transport|''Bayfield'' class]] [[attack transport]] that served with the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service in 1947 and was scrapped in 1973.

==History==
Launched as ''Sea Angler'' by Western Pipe & Steel, San Francisco, California, under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract, the vessel was acquired by the Navy 26 February 1944 and renamed ''Cecil'' after a county in [[Maryland]]. She was placed in reduced commission 27 February, converted at [[Commercial Iron Works]],<ref>The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships says "''Continental'' Iron Works" but this is almost certainly a transcription error.</ref> [[Portland, Oregon]], and placed in full commission 15 September 1944.

===Iwo Jima===
''Cecil'' cleared San Francisco 26 November 1944 for amphibious training in the [[Hawaiian Islands]], and preparations for the invasion of [[Iwo Jima]] at [[Eniwetok]] and [[Saipan]]. She cleared Saipan with her task group 16 February, and 3 days later, took position off Iwo Jima for the initial assault. As naval and air bombardment pounded the island, her men skillfully played their part. Remaining off the hard-fought beaches, ''Cecil'' completed unloading troops, cargo, and vehicles, and embarked casualties, with whom she sailed 28 February to Saipan.

===Okinawa===
''Cecil'' continued on to [[Tulagi]] and [[Espiritu Santo]], where she loaded men and cargo of the [[27th Infantry Division (United States)|27th Infantry Division]]. On 9 April 1945, she landed these reinforcements through high surf on [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. She remained for a week continuing her unloading under enemy air attacks, aiding in fighting them off as she loaded and landed her boats. On 16 April she got underway for Saipan and [[Ulithi]], where she received minor repairs and replenished.

===After hostilities===
On 21 May, ''Cecil'' arrived in [[Subic Bay]], P.I., for transport and training duty until 27 August, when she departed Luzon with troops and cargo of the [[1st Cavalry Division (United States)|1st Cavalry Division]], bound for occupation duty in Japan.

''Cecil'' called at [[Yokohama]] from 2 to 4 September 1945, then returned to the [[Philippines]] to load more occupation troops. On the return passage to Japan, she was ordered into Okinawa from 25 September to 3 October to avoid a threatening typhoon, then proceeded on to disembark her troops at [[Aki Nada]].

===Operation Magic Carpet===
She sailed to [[San Pedro, Los Angeles]], for a minor overhaul in November, then made another voyage to the Philippines as part of [[Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)|Operation Magic Carpet]], to return men and equipment to San Pedro, where she arrived on 22 January 1946.

===Decommissioning and fate===
In March, she sailed to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], where she was decommissioned on 24 May 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission the next day. In 1947 ''Cecil'' was purchased by the [[Isthmian Steamship Company]] which registered her in New York as ''Steel Admiral''. ''Steel Admiral'' remained in service with Isthmian Steamship until 1973, when she was taken to [[Kaohsiung]], Taiwan and scrapped in October of the same year.

==Awards==
Cecil received two [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cecil.html}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/03096.htm USS ''Cecil'' (APA-96)], Navsource Online
* {{cite book | last = Mawdsley | first = Dean L. | year = 2002 | title = Steel Ships and Iron Pipe: Western Pipe and Steel Company of California: The Company, The Yard, The Ships | location = San Francisco | publisher = Associates of the National Maritime Museum Library | isbn = 978-1-889901-28-2 | oclc = 50164828 | page = 153 }}
{{Commons category|USS Cecil (APA-96)}}
{{Bayfield class attack transport}}
{{Type C3-S-A2 ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil (APA-96)}}
[[Category:Bayfield-class attack transports]]
[[Category:Ships built in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Cecil County, Maryland]]