Latimer was launched under
Maritime Commission contract 4 July 1944 by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.,
Portland, Oregon; sponsored by Mrs. Melvin H. McCoy; acquired by the Navy 28 August 1944; and commissioned the same day at
Astoria, Oregon.
World War II Departing
Seattle, Washington, 11 September 1944,
Latimer steamed via
San Francisco, California, to
San Pedro, California, where she arrived 16 September. After shakedown off southern
California, she embarked 1,301 troops at San Francisco and departed 26 October for the western
Pacific Ocean. She sailed via
Hollandia,
New Guinea, and
Noumea,
New Caledonia, to the
Solomons; arrived
Guadalcanal 21 December for amphibious assault exercises; then steamed to
Manus,
Admiralties, 25 to 31 December to prepare for the invasion of
Luzon. Assigned to task group TG 77.9 as a reinforcement transport,
Latimer cleared
Seeadler Harbor 2 January 1945, bound for
Lingayen Gulf. She arrived off
San Fabian,
Luzon, 11 January; discharged troops and support equipment; then steamed 13 to 27 January via
Leyte Gulf and Manus to
Wakde,
New Guinea, where she embarked additional troops for passage to
Luzon. After steaming to
Lingayen Gulf 2 to 10 February, she sailed the 10th for
Leyte Gulf and arrived 14 February to prepare for the invasion of
Okinawa. During most of March
Latimer rehearsed assault landings off
Samar before departing San Pedro Bay in convoy 27 March. Assigned to task group TG 55.3, she carried troops of the
U.S. 96th Infantry Division and arrived off
Hagushi,
Okinawa, at dawn 1 April. She debarked troops at 0730 for the first wave against beaches Brown 1 and 2, then remained in the inner transport area to discharge troops and cargo until 1930, when she prepared for night retirement at sea. After successfully repelling a Japanese aerial attack at dawn 3 April, she completed unloading operations the following morning and departed
Okinawa the 5th. Steaming via
Guam and
Pearl Harbor, she arrived San Francisco Bay 29 April; proceeded to Seattle 20 to 22 May; embarked 1,422 troops; and departed 28 May for the
Far East. After touching at
Pearl Harbor,
Eniwetok, and
Ulithi, she arrived
Hagushi 14 July and discharged troops and military cargo. With 350 veterans embarked she sailed 22 July for the
United States via
Ulithi and arrived San Francisco 10 August. Between 7 and 27 September,
Latimer transported 1,164 occupation troops from
Pearl Harbor via
Saipan to
Honshū, Japan. She returned to Saipan 1 to 6 October; embarked 1,523 passengers; and departed 8 October on "
Operation Magic Carpet" passage to the
U.S. West Coast, arriving Seattle 19 October. During the next 4 months she made two more "Magic Carpet" voyages to the western Pacific from Seattle and San Francisco, carrying military passengers from
Saipan and the
Philippines to the U.S. west coast. Arriving San Francisco 19 February 1946 after a voyage from
Subic Bay,
Luzon,
Latimer departed 11 March for the
U.S. East Coast. Steaming via the
Panama Canal, she arrived
Norfolk, Virginia, 26 March and for the next 5 months operated at Norfolk and
Yorktown, Virginia. She entered
Norfolk Navy Yard 27 August, decommissioned there 26 February 1947, and entered the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Cold War Latimer recommissioned 23 September 1950 at
Portsmouth, Virginia. Assigned to
Transport Squadron 2, she operated out of Norfolk from the
Virginia and
North Carolina coast to
Puerto Rico and the
Caribbean, transporting
U.S. Marines and participating in amphibious landing exercises. Departing Norfolk 31 August 1951, she embarked
2d Division Marines at
Morehead City, North Carolina, before sailing 2 September for the
Mediterranean. She arrived
Oran,
Algeria, 14 September and began a 4-month deployment with the
U.S. 6th Fleet. During amphibious exercises she steamed throughout the
Mediterranean and touched the coasts of
France,
Italy, and
Greece and the Islands of
Crete,
Sardinia, and
Sicily. Departing
Naples, Italy, 29 January 1952, she returned to the United States and reached Norfolk 14 February. For more than 2 years
Latimer cruised in the
Caribbean and along the eastern coast of
North America from
Florida to
Greenland conducting
Midshipman and
U.S. Naval Reserve training cruises or engaging in amphibious landing training. Between 6 September 1954 and 30 January 1955 she again deployed to the
Mediterranean, and after another year of operations along the eastern seaboard, she steamed from
Brooklyn, New York, to
Galveston, Texas, 2 to 9 February 1956.
Final decommissioning Towed to
Orange, Texas, 24 to 25 February,
Latimer decommissioned 15 May and entered the Texas group of the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet. In February 1960 she transferred to the
Maritime Administration and was placed in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet. She was berthed at
Mobile, Alabama and was struck from the
Navy list on 1 July 1960 and was scrapped in 1972. == References ==