Figure 1: USS Bayfield (APA-33) at Charleston, South Carolina, on 4 January 1950. She is proceeding to Pier D-5 at the Charleston Naval Shipyard to embark troops of the Third Division from Fort Benning, Georgia, to participate in Operation "Protrex." Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Bayfield (APA-33) off the New York Navy Yard, 21 November 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Bayfield (APA-33), flagship for the "Utah" Beach landings, lowers LCVPs for the assault on Normandy, 6 June 1944. USS LST-346 is partially visible beyond Bayfield's stern, and USS Nevada is in the far right distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Bayfield (APA-33), flagship for the "Utah" Beach landings, loading landing craft on "D-Day," 6 June 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Bayfield (APA-33) photographed on 6 February 1952. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: Hungnam Evacuation, December 1950. Marines boarding USS Bayfield (APA-33) at Hungnam for transportation out of North Korea. Note details of the Marines' packs. Man at left is carrying a Russian Mosin-Nagant carbine in addition to his M1. This photograph was released by Commander, Naval Forces Far East, on 20 December 1950. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Bayfield (APA-33) offloading a Jeep into a LCM, 1952. The original picture caption, released by the Public Information Office of Commander Naval Forces, Far East, under the date of 27 October 1952, reads: "Operation Decoy's Preparation --- A jeep is lowered into an awaiting LCM during pre-operation decoy exercises. In the operation, UN forces sailed to the beaches of Kojo, North Korea, and brought out enemy troops so that Naval surface artillery, combined with Marine, Air Force, and Navy air units could smash them.” Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: Operation "Passage to Freedom," 1954-1955. Four crewmen display a welcoming banner for Vietnamese refugees coming on board USS Bayfield (APA-33) for passage to Saigon, Indochina, from Haiphong, 3 September 1954. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: Operation "Passage to Freedom," 1954-1955. Vietnamese refugees receive food on board USS Bayfield (APA-33) while en route to Saigon, Indochina, from Haiphong, circa September 1954. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: Operation "Passage to Freedom," 1954-1955. A crewmen rations out water for Vietnamese refugees on board USS Bayfield (APA-33) during their journey to Saigon, Indochina, from Haiphong, circa September 1954. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: Six of Bayfield's LCVPs cross the line of departure en route to White Beach, during amphibious exercises on 18 November 1961. USS Page County (LST-1076) is in the background, with LCU-1499 beyond her stern and LCU-1613 to the right. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: USS Bayfield in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, on 5 December 1962. Photographed by J. O. Fox. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
USS Bayfield (APA-33) was named after Henry W. Bayfield, an officer of the Royal Navy who came to Canada during the War of 1812 and, once the war ended, decided to stay in the United States. He went on to become a famous surveyor of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the coast of Labrador. USS Bayfield was the lead ship in a class of 16,100-ton attack transports that was originally built by the Western Pipe & Steel Company at San Francisco, California, and was constructed as a C3-S-A2 freighter under a Maritime Commission contract. She was acquired by the Navy at the end of June 1943, was placed in a reduced state of commission, and sailed via the Panama Canal to Brooklyn, New York, where the Atlantic Basic Iron Works converted her into an amphibious warfare ship. Bayfield was fully commissioned into the US Navy on 20 November 1943 with Captain Lyndon Spencer, US Coast Guard, in command. The ship was approximately 492 feet long and 69 feet wide, had a top speed of 18.4 knots and a crew of 575 officers and men (all of them members of the US Coast Guard), and could transport roughly 1,226 troops. Bayfield was armed with two 5-inch guns, eight 40-mm guns, and 24 20-mm guns.
Following a shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay area, Bayfield was sent to Norfolk, Virginia, for some repairs. After conducting several amphibious training exercises, Bayfield steamed to Great Britain with a full load of troops in February 1944. Once she got there, Bayfield spent the next three months preparing and training for the invasion of France. She was equipped with special command facilities and, during the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, Bayfield was the flagship for the assault on “Utah” Beach. After the invasion of Normandy, Bayfield was sent to the Mediterranean in July and, one month later, participated in the invasion of southern France. Bayfield returned to the United States for an overhaul in September 1944.
Bayfield then was assigned to the Pacific in November 1944, where she spent the next two months conducting amphibious training exercises in Hawaiian waters. She landed Marines on Iwo Jima in February 1945 and in April took part in the invasion of Okinawa. For the remainder of the war in the Pacific, Bayfield was assigned to various logistics operations. During the last four months of 1945 and in early 1946, Bayfield supported the occupation of Japan and Korea, and participated in Operation “Magic Carpet,” which brought American war veterans back home to the United States.
In June and July 1946, Bayfield attended the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. She remained on active duty in the Pacific for several more years and then was assigned to the Atlantic. But in mid-1950, the Korean War brought Bayfield back to the Pacific. She operated off the coast of Korea until May 1951 and in September made a round-trip voyage from the United States to Japan and back. In March 1952, Bayfield was sent back to Korea to provide logistics support for the troops there.
For the next two years, Bayfield made three more cruises to Asia and in August and September 1954 assisted in the evacuation of refugees that resulted from the partition of Vietnam. She was one of more than 40 amphibious transports assigned to Operation “Passage to Freedom,” where US Navy ships assisted people who were fleeing Communist North Vietnam to live in democratic South Vietnam. During this operation, the US ships provided food, shelter, and medical aid, as well as transportation, to thousands of people who made the journey from North to South Vietnam.
For the next 13 years, Bayfield was assigned to the Pacific. Although her homeport was in Long Beach, California, she spent a substantial amount of time in Hawaii and the Far East, visiting ports in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. In 1967, while the war in Vietnam was raging, Bayfield served as a floating barracks at Danang, South Vietnam, transported Marines to and from combat zones, and took part in several landing operations. She continued various transport duties off the coast of Vietnam until the end of May 1967, when she returned to Long Beach for the last time. Bayfield was placed out of commission but in reserve on 28 June 1968. However, a Navy board of inspection and survey found the old transport to be unfit for further service. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1968 and she was sold to Levin Metals Corporation of San Pedro, California, on 15 September 1969 for scrapping.
USS Bayfield received four battle stars for her service in World War II, four battle stars for her service during the Korean War, and two battle stars for her work in Vietnam. This was a very impressive record for an amphibious transport, especially one whose career spanned three wars and roughly 25 years of constant service. Ships like Bayfield get precious little recognition, even though they take substantial risks in wartime and do important work in peacetime. Bayfield transported thousands of people and many tons of cargo during her lifetime and she was even able to give several hundred refugees a chance at a new life by carrying them from North to South Vietnam. Amphibious transports are vital to any major navy and ships like Bayfield show just how useful and durable they can be.
