USS Magoffin (APA-199) Notable cruises and memorable events
WORLD WAR II
"Landing at Okinawa.
Crossing Equator. Being in a few typhoons." Wilton Schanzenbach
"To
Guadalcanal January 45, Okinawa April 45, Tokyo Bay Sept 45." Jean Noel
"Invasion of Okinawa and the typhoon.” Merble Bellin
"Occupation of Japan
and Okinawa." Jim Ford
"First cruise to Pearl
Harbor, then from the Aleutians to the South Pacific. New Caledonia,
Guadalcanal, Tokyo Bay for the signing of end of war. A great experience in my
young life." James Mozis
"Landing training in
the Russell Islands. Typhoon of 1945. Leyte, Evo, and Okinawa, putting part of
Second Marine Div. ashore. Fast education for a country boy." Gwindon
Sharp
"Invasion ofDkinawa,
seeing Nagasaki after atom-bombing," Guy Johnson
"First
trip to the South Pacific to New Caledonia. Side trip to Shanghai and Tsingtsao
after war. Invasion of Dkinawa. Sailing into Tokyo Bay Sept. 45." George
Macioce
"Invasion of Okinawa - the typhoon." Robert
Olson
"Pulling into Tokyo
Bay." Billy Huston
"New Caledonia, Florida and RussellIslands, Ulithi,Guam, Eniwetok, Leyte, Shanghai, Yokohama. Invasion of Okinawa, early occupation of Japan." Wallace Wilhelm
KOREAN WAR ERA
"Passage
to Freedom tour (Vietnam). Show the flag thru straits of Japan. Burial at sea
of a Marine pilot (Korea)." William Betz
"Shimonaseki
Straits and Hong Kong (so-called R & R). Trying to keep enough people sober
in order to get underway from Hong Kong." Vern Bidinger
"Landing
troops in Korea under a smokescreen, and an evacuation in Korea. R & R in
Hong Kong and Kyoto." Dave Engelmann
"WestPac
cruise to Yokosuka, Nagoya, Beppo, and Sasebo, Japan. Naha, Okinawa, Subic Bay
& Manila, and Hong Kong. Two weeks SP duty in Hong Kong, and living with
the British sailors at HMS Tamar in Victoria, Hong Kong. Our Skipper, Capt
Iffrig, was an ex-tin can skipper, and the handled the Magoffin like it was a
tin can." Morris Goldberg
"Evacuation
of refugees from Hanoi to Saigon." Bob Henderson
"Broke
my right leg while 'on duty.' Eventually received a pseudo 'Purple Heart. “ Charles
Jardine
"Evacuating
Vietnamese civilians from north to south. When Korean truce was signed. A fine
ship and crew." Gordon Nass
"First
trip to Korea. Task Force 77- Wonsan, Korea. Transporting refugees from
Haiphong to Saigon." Willis Anson
"To
Korea from San Diego, July 52, came home Dec. 52. To Korea from San Diego Aug.
53, back Oct. 53. Duty at Inchon, '52; mock invasion at Wonsan, '52; liberty at
Pusan '52. Bringing Army troops home to San Francisco, "53." Bud
Church
"Korea.
Vietnam to evacuate refugees. Dick Dickenson
"West
Pac. Enjoyed my tour very much." Phil Gronvold
"Plank
owners' party in Japan, Hong Kong, mock invasion on Korea. How nice people were
to us in Japan. "Charles Krebbs
"Collision
at sea, off California coast." Kenneth Martin
"Trip
to Japan 1951. Every day was like a three-ring circus. Was acting Chief
Engineer for about 3 months." Richard Phares
"1954
WestPac; spent approx 3 months in Haiphong." Harold Reece
"Three
trips across Pacific with troops; one trip with ammo to Formosa." Thomas
Ward "Wonson feint. Touring Seoul. Storm off N. Japan on way to
Hokaido. Also when the Captain ran the ship into the dock at Inchon. "Chuck
Whiteley
"WestPac
deployment. 'Operation Passage to Freedom' evacuation of refugees from North to
South Vietnam." Ralph Freese
"Operation
Hardtack. Nuclear weapons test May '58. Bought a pickup load of live king crabs
at Kodiak for $1.00 each; boiled and froze for crew for delivery in
'Dago." Thomas Maxwell
"Hong
Kong. Trip to Korean port of Inchon." RM. Miller
"Hong
Kong. They were all memorable events for a country boy from Alabama." James
Pittman
"Two
cruises to Korea." Ren Renfro
"'Passage
to Freedom.' Mock invasion of Okinawa; visit to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Tiger
Balm Gardens." Paul Andress
"First
trip overseas (Aug. '53) . First day aboard, and first shore patrol duty
(Tourane) DaNang. Realize now how much closer former shipmates have
become." Bill Berglin
"Hong
Kong Express- 6 weeks R & R for Philippine-stationed Army and Air Force;
Japan inland sea. Towing collision at sea with Calvert (I was Jr. OOD). Plane
crash into destroyer off Pendleton. Yard period in Bremerton, Wash.- 2 months
of rain. One great E.O.., one good, one rotten C.O. in 3 years." Allan
Frank
"Nothing
unusual. First boarding of "Maggie'." Bill Larsen
"Iwo
Jima, Marlex. Many trips to and from Korea. Good will cruise to Japanese ports.
Brought back Korean combat vets Sept 53." Jerry Montgomery
"Going
downriver from Stockton to yard in SanFran; Korea & Hong Kong. Using Capt.
Moore's shotgun to shoot traps when he finished." Sam Rubin
"LTJG
Mike McCormack and I were sent for 3 months' temporary duty on the staff of
ComTransDiv 13, first on USS Calvert (AP A-32) and then on USS George Clymer
(APA-27). It was interesting but not very pleasant. We missed the Hong Kong
trip, but when we returned to Magoffin found there was plenty of 'Hong Kong
merchandise' always on sale. We blessed Capt. Moore for writing to Commodore
Hurd to release us so that we could return home with our ship. The Maggie
looked like heaven when we came back to her. She was a great ship, with a
splendid crew, and a fine Skipper. I also remember our first passage West in
March, 51, loaded with troops; the engines broke down temporarily, and we lay
rolling in the trough. Capt. Moore sent his orderly to get his carbine, and
took potshots at floating junk. A rumor spread among the troops that the
Skipper was executing the man responsible for the engine breakdown (but all the
Black Gang survived.)" Les Wilson
The
day the Capt. came on the IMC to announce the loss of his canary bird. Suspect
a Slc called Toad Lawson let it loose. Jack Bagg
"Goodwill
tour of all back ports in Japan; Passage to Freedom, Vietnam " William
Smith
I
was in the 1st Div and in charge of the deck crew. Our leading PO was a Chief,
nice fellow, 6'2", dark hair; can't remember his name. One time we were
letting out the anchor, and the last 50(?) fathoms are always painted yellow.
The Warrant Officer (Bosn Dominy) was asking why the anchor chain is painted.
(It is yellow as a warning to start slowing down the chain going out.) Our
Chief looked at him and told him to go to his quarters because he didn't know
much about the ship. Another time on shakedown training we had a landing craft
hanging over the side, and a steadying line broke; the Chief and I quickly made
a long splice of the line so it would pass thru the fairlead blocks for
lowering the boat. At one time we set a record in time for lowering all small
craft. Another memorable event was that one night I was going up to the Radio
Shack to see if I had any word on the birth of my son. Just before entering the
Radio Room a door opened and there stood our skipper, Capt Moore. We talked
awhile and then he asked me why I was up there. I told him that I was waiting
for a radiogram from my wife on the birth of my son; he said "well so am
I, so lets both of us go in. Another time we had just left Pusan after dropping
off the Air Force combat engineers, and we picked up a group of Marines who had
just come off the Chosin Reservoir area.. For his recreation the Captain would
have some of the mess cooks throw large empty cans overboard at the bow, and he
would shoot at them from the bridge wing with his carbine. One day while the
combat Marines were lounging around on #2 hatch covers, the Captain opened up,
and the Marines were scattering and hiding under anything. Someone ran up to
the Captain and told him what was going on; he got on the P A and apologized to
the Marines. Our Captain was a very good Skipper and we all thought very highly
of him. "Donald Schirmer
"My
special friends were: BT's Parker, Jensen, Williams, Wiley, Walker, and
Veverka; EN's Baer, Maroney, Dickerson, Anson; MM's Johnson and Carniglia; and
Stafford and Hellman. "Joseph Alan Bogard
"Storms
at sea, coastal patrol of South Vietnam, GQ at various times. WestPac was hard,
many storms and spending a lot of time in Vietnam." Joe Petruzzi
"WestPac
67-68 was Magoffin's last deployment and my first WestPac. Operation
Schoolhouse (Philippines); oftloading Marines at DaNang; amphibious assault
exercise at Camranh Bay. We spent approx. 6 months at Richmond (Calif)
Shipyard; during that period the workers
went on strike. Thus most of the work was done by Ship's Company - long hard hours." Lester Stevenson
Liberty
ports, and typhoon in South China Sea. Enjoyed loading and unloading
operations, running yard and stay." Bradley Robertson.
Troop
landing in DaNang." William Calvert
"Yokosuka,
Sasebo, Subic Bay, Corregidor, Hong Kong, Hawaii. Magoffin was a good ship -
at the time I didn't think it was." Theodore Jones
"Landing
troops, bombs, tanks in Vietnam. Steamed in circles for 56 days straight
(Tonkin Gulf 1964)" Bruce Melsha
"Three
trips to Vietnam. Delivered schoolhouses in the Philippines. Delivered 'Korean
Tigers' to Vietnam. I was one of the last crew off the Magoffin before retiring
her to mothballs. Got off in San Diego before she went to Long Beach." Jerry
Muhlbach
"Crossing
International Date Line. Hong Kong was nice. " William Powell
"Christmas
Island; Eniwetok A-bomb test. " Dusty Rhodes
"All
WestPac cruises were notable. Serving as 'hotel' for Marines and Seabees in
DaNang. Loading of Tiger Division, Korean Army, and delivering them to Vietnam.
Leo Ayers
"I
was on the last crew. The ship returned fromWesPac December 1967 and went into
mothballs in April 1968. I departed 2 weeks before the decommissioning
ceremony." Dan Mullen
"During
my tour aboard, my CO's were: Nickolas Ducas, John A. Heath, and l Hughes. The
XO was Cdr Melchor. Chief Engineer was LT Gary Huntsman. The ship was based in
Long Beach. We had several interesting experiences worthy of note: A cold
weather operation landing Marines in Alaska; operated as decon ship for atomic bomb
testing in Eniwetok; immediately following that, proceeded to Japan for regular
deployment. While on deployment operated in China seas during Quemoy-Matsu
fracas with China & Formosa.. Subsequently went to Hong Kong as evac ship
for select US & foreigners in the event of China invasion; we were only US
ship in port for nearly 3 weeks, During Lebanon crisis, Magoffin loaded Marines
at Okinawa, moved to Subic for fuel, ammo & stores, and headed to
Singapore, thence to Persian Gulf.
After the situation cleared up, returned to Singapore to install air
conditioners in crew's & officers' quarters & living spaces. After
these operations, returned to Long Beach, having spent in excess of 320 days
away. Shipyard in San Pedro amid much humid toxic fumes, smog, & shipyard
delays," "During the Lebanon crisis CAPT l. A. Heath was Task Group
Commander; the force consisted of 4 APA's;, 2 AKA's, 3 DD's and 1 AO." Ray
Seabaugh
"I
have heard from one of the kids who worked for me on the ship, thanks to the
newsletter. It made me feel real good that he called. "Ross Sakers
"So
glad to have learned of the existence of the Association. I have lots of
memories of my 3 1/2 years aboard the 'Magoo" to share with anyone who
wants to listen" Thomas Baglage
"
I have very happy memories of the Magoffin; the one that sticks in my mind is
that I put on a Chiefs hat in May of 61; I retired in Nov 67." Emery
Ferguson
"One
day in Vietnam I almost got shot. I was sleeping in guard duty boat at the pier
on DaNang; a VC was getting ready to shoot me & my crew but a home guard
shot him first." Harry Simpson