View source for USS Panamint

{{Short description|United States Navy amphibious force command ship}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:USS Panamint (AGC-13) in San Francisco Bay in 1944.jpg|300px|USS Panamint]]
|Ship caption= 
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name= USS ''Panamint''
|Ship namesake=[[Panamint Range]] in California
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Company]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina]]
|Ship laid down= 1 September 1943
|Ship launched= 9 November 1943
|Ship acquired= 29 February 1944
|Ship commissioned= 14 October 1944
|Ship decommissioned= January 1947
|Ship struck= 1 July 1960
|Ship motto= 
|Ship nickname= 
|Ship honors= 1 [[battle star]] (WWII)
|Ship fate= Sold for scrapping, 1961
|Ship notes= 
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= ''Mount McKinley''-class [[amphibious command ship]]
|Ship displacement= {{convert|7510|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|459|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|63|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|24|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion= 
|Ship speed= {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship complement=633
|Ship armament=*2 × [[5"/38 caliber gun]]s (2×1)
*8 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] guns (4×2)
*7 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] guns (7×1)
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Panamint'' (AGC-13)''' was a [[Mount McKinley-class command ship|''Mount McKinley''-class]] amphibious force command ship named after the [[Panamint Range]] of mountains in [[California]]. She was designed as an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations.

==Commissioning ==
''Panamint'' was laid down as SS ''Northern Light'' (MC hull 1354) on 1&nbsp;September 1943 by the [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Company]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington, N.C.]]; launched 9&nbsp;November 1943; acquired by the Navy 29&nbsp;February 1944; converted to a general communications vessel at the Todd-Hoboken Yard, [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], N.J.; [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] 14&nbsp;October 1944.

==Service history==

===1944&ndash;1945===
Following shakedown, ''Panamint'' got underway 22 November 1944 for [[Guadalcanal]] via the [[Panama Canal]], [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard|Mare Island]], and [[Pearl Harbor]]. On 1&nbsp;March ''Panamint'' sailed for [[Cape Esperance]], [[Guadalcanal]] in company with Transport Group ABLE to stage for the forthcoming [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]]. The group proceeded to [[Ulithi]] on the 15th, and on the 27th sailed for [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]].

''Panamint'', part of the Northern Attack Force, served as [[flagship]] of Rear Admiral [[Lawrence F. Reifsnider]], Commander Amphibious Group&nbsp;4. Going in under plane attacks, on 1&nbsp;April the transports took station in approach formation. At 08:00 the first assault wave passed the line of departure and landed forty minutes later. By 09:30 all the assault battalions were ashore. Only sporadic opposition was encountered, and progress was so rapid that by 22&nbsp;April all organized resistance in the northern two thirds of the island had ceased.

On 10 April Admiral [[Richmond K. Turner]] designated Commander Amphibious Group&nbsp;4, on board ''Panamint'', as commander Task Force&nbsp;51, Ie&nbsp;Shima Attack Group. Their mission was to capture and defend [[Ie Shima]] and to establish air base facilities on the island.

Six days later assault landings began on three designated beaches of this small island northwest of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. Troops of the [[77th Infantry Division (United States)|77th Infantry Division]] reached the northwest edge of the island’s airfield within three hours after the first waves had landed.

By nightfall two-thirds of the island was secured, but enemy resistance was mounting. On the morning of 21&nbsp;April, Rear Admiral Reifsnider sent the following message to Admiral Turner: "The American Flag Is Now Atop The Pinnacle of Ie&nbsp;Shima".

During the capture of [[Ie Shima]] and until mid-June 1945 Amphibious Group 4 retained responsibility for naval support of troop operations in northern [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. For ''Panamint'' this was a two-and-a-half month period of nightly aerial attacks.

[[Kamikaze]] planes were in evidence from before D-Day, but the first mass enemy air attack occurred on 6&nbsp;April. No ships of the Northern Attack Force were hit. Other large scale attacks came on the 12th, 16th, 22nd, and 28th. On the 30th a plane crashed into [[Liberty ship]] ''S.&nbsp;Hall Young'', 800&nbsp;yards from ''Panamint'', and carrying ammunition. A bomb from the plane pierced the shell plating on both sides of the ship in the vicinity of the No.&nbsp;5 hold. The plane itself struck the after boom and fell into the hold, starting a fire. ''Panamint''’s fire and rescue party boarded the ''S.&nbsp;Hall Young'' and extinguished the fire.

On 6 May when a plane approached ''Panamint'' from the starboard beam, ''Panamint'', her sister ships, and shore batteries on Ie&nbsp;Shima commenced firing. The plane circled to port for a suicide dive, but the anti-aircraft fire proved effective. He overshot ''Panamint'', splashing 1500&nbsp;yards off her port bow.

On the 11th two enemy planes were sighted low over the water approaching the Ie&nbsp;Shima transport area on the starboard beam. The planes were following an evasive course to get through the screening vessels which had commenced firing.

''Panamint'' opened fire on one of the planes, which dropped a torpedo. ''Panamint'' put her rudder hard right at full speed and swung on the anchor to a position paralleling the course of the approaching plane and torpedo. The plane erupted into flames, passed 150&nbsp;yards astern of ''Panamint'', glanced off the cargo boom of Dutch ship {{MS|Tjisadane||2}}, and splashed into the sea. The torpedo passed the stern of the ship. The second plane closed on the starboard bow, dropped a torpedo which passed to starboard and cleared ''Panamint''’s stern by 30&nbsp;feet.

In the first 45 days, the ships of Amphibious Group 4 were exposed to many "Red Alerts". Only nine days were free of enemy air raids. Throughout this ordeal ''Panamint'' directed the [[Combat Air Patrol]] attacks in repelling the enemy. On 15&nbsp;June ''Panamint'' steamed to [[Saipan]] and then on to [[Pearl Harbor]], arriving 8&nbsp;July.

On 12 August 1945 the ship sailed for [[Adak Island|Adak]], [[Aleutian Islands]], where she reported for duty to Commander North Pacific Force and Area. On 29&nbsp;August Vice Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]], Commander North Pacific Force and Area, hoisted his flag on ''Panamint''. Two days later she left Adak with the 9th&nbsp;Fleet<ref>''DANFS'' says "9th&nbsp;Fleet", but Polmar says, "''Ninth Fleet'': Designation not used". ({{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC&q=us+navy+9th+fleet&pg=PA29 |title= The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet |first=Norman |last= Polmar |author-link= Norman Polmar |year= 2005 |publisher= [[United States Naval Institute]] |page=29 |access-date= 2011-03-07 |isbn= 9781591146858 }})</ref> and headed west for the [[Occupied Japan|occupation]] of northern [[Japan]].

On 7 September the [[flagship]] pulled away from the anchored task force and proceeded to a rendezvous point to await the Japanese surrender ship from nearby [[Ōminato]] Naval Base. On schedule a Japanese [[destroyer escort]] bore down the [[Tsugaru Strait]] carrying emissaries to hand over northern [[Japan]], and pilots to guide the American ships through Japanese waters. The commissioners were quickly transferred to ''Panamint''. Commodore R.&nbsp;E. Robinson, Jr., represented Vice Admiral Fletcher, and Rear Admiral Zensuke Kanome was the head of the Japanese delegation.

On the morning of the 8th the massive naval force got underway led by a Japanese [[frigate]] through the mineswept channel and [[Tsugaru Strait]] leading to [[Ōminato]] Anchorage. ''Panamint'' moored off the shattered naval base that afternoon, and the following morning the formal [[Occupied Japan|occupation]] ceremony was held on her decks. Surrender had come so quickly that two weeks passed before American troops arrived to occupy the countryside. On 20&nbsp;September ''Panamint'' returned to [[Adak Island|Adak]], and proceeded to [[Kodiak Island|Kodiak]] on 2&nbsp;October.

''Panamint'' next served as [[flagship]] for Rear Admiral [[Arthur Dewey Struble]], Commander Minecraft [[Pacific]] Fleet. Admiral Struble transferred his flag to ''Panamint'' on 20&nbsp;November 1945 from the [[minelayer]] [[USS Terror (CM-5)|''Terror'']] (CM-5).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ringleib.com/terror/USSTerror-AnAlbum-Ryan.pdf |title= USS ''Terror'' CM-4 — An Album |author= Allie Ryan | access-date= 2011-03-07 }}</ref> Upon leaving this command she departed from [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]], [[Japan]], arriving at [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] on 28&nbsp;March 1946.

===Post-War===
On 1 July 1946 she covered Joint Army-Navy Task Force I's "[[Operation Crossroads]]", the [[atomic bomb]] test at [[Bikini atoll|Bikini]], where she served as floating headquarters for congressional, scientific, and U.N. observers.

By directive dated January 1947 ''Panamint'' was placed out of commission in reserve, U.S. [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]], and berthed at [[San Diego]], California. ''Panamint'' was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1&nbsp;July 1960, approved for disposal on 4&nbsp;November 1960 and scrapped in 1961.

''Panamint'' received one [[battle star]] for [[World War II]] service.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/panamint.html}}

==External links==
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/01/0113.htm navsource.org: USS ''Panamint'']
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agLZX9tv2oA Interview of Richard Wilson], Chief Petty Officer aboard the Panamint

{{Mount McKinley class command ship}}
{{Type C2-S-AJ1 ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panamint (AGC-13)}}
[[Category:Mount McKinley-class command ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Wilmington, North Carolina]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Panamint Range|USS Panamint]]