Shufflin' off to Buffalo

[Bill Farnie]

Tomorrow I'll be going with my uncle, A WW II Navy Vet, for three days to a reunion his shipmates are having in Buffalo NY

He served on the USS Horace A. Bass





APD-124
Displacement: 1,450 t.
Length: 306?
Beam: 37?
Draft: 9?8?
Speed: 24 k.
Complement: 186

Armament: 2 5?; 4 40mm; 8 20mm; 3 21? torpedo tubes;

2 depth charge tracks;

8 depth charge projectors;

1 hedge hog

Class: CROSLEY

USS HORACE A. BASS (APD-124) was launched, after being

reclassified from DE-691, by Bethlehem Steel Co., Fore

River, Quincy, Mass., 12 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs.

H. A. Bass, Jr., widow of Ensign Bass; and commissioned 21

December 1944, Lt. Comdr. F. W. Kuhn in command.



The new high speed transport fitted out at Boston Navy

Yard and conducted shakedown training off Bermuda, after

which she sailed to New York, where she arrived 15 February

1945. Departing next day, USS HORACE A. BASS escorted

ammunition ship FIREDRAKE (AE-14) to Panama, from where she

proceeded to San Diego 3 March. After gunnery exercises in

the area the ship sailed westward to join in the climactic

phase of the Pacific War.



USS HORACE A. BASS stopped at Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and

Ulithi, en route to Okinawa, where the largest fleet

assembled in the Pacific was engaged in what was to be the

final major amphibious strike of the long war on the

threshold of Japan. The ship arrived off Okinawa 6 April,
just in time to take part in repelling one of the fiercest

Japanese air assaults of the campaign. As the desperate

attack was driven off, USS HORACE A. BASS was credited with at

least one plane splashed. As the battle raged ashore, she

served on the vital picket line until 10 April, when she

sailed with a convoy to Guam. On the return passage, she

sank Japanese submarine RO-109 with a single accurate depth

charge attack south of Okinawa 25 April. Arriving 26 April,

the ship resumed the hectic picket duty interspersed with

convoy voyages to Saipan and Guam. Though the island was

secured in mid-June, the air attacks continued, and USS HORACE

A. BASS continued to provide antiaircraft and antisubmarine

protection to the countless ships off Okinawa. Early 30

July, the ship was on picket duty in the area when a

low-flying suicider crashed through her superstructure and

fell alongside, her bomb exploding close aboard. USS HORACE A.

BASS suffered hull damage and 14 casualties, but was quickly

repaired. She remained off Okinawa until sailing north

toward Japan 14 August.



After the surrender 15 August, the transport remained

off Japan with 3d Fleet units until the ships triumphantly

entered Tokyo Bay 27 August 1945. USS HORACE A. BASS took part

in the occupation of the giant Yokosuka Naval Base,

furnishing the prize crew which took possession of

battleship NAGATO, one of the very few major ships left to

the Imperial Navy. The American ship remained at Yokosuka

assisting in the occupation until sailing for the United

States 14 January 1946.



USS HORACE A. BASS arrived San Francisco 7 February 1946,

and spent the remainder of the year in the San Diego area on

training operations. The ship sailed again for the Far East

27 January 1947, this time to support American efforts to

stabilize the volatile Chinese situation. Arriving Tsingtao

5 March, USS HORACE A. BASS acted as a station ship until

sailing again for San Diego 30 July. The second half of

1947 was spent on training exercises in California waters,

and in early 1948 the ship operated off the Mexican coast.

She proceeded to China again 16 June 1948, and again served

as station ship at Hong Kong and Tsingtao, occasionally

sailing to the Marshalls and Guam. As Communist troops

began to gain the upper hand in the Chinese civil war,

USS. HORACE A. BASS evacuated civilians of several nations from

Nanking in November. The ship departed China 1 March 1948,

arriving San Diego 21 March for repairs and training.



After exercises off San Diego and a large amphibious

training assault in Hawaii, USS HORACE A. BASS sailed from

Hawaii 14 November 1949 for another tour of duty in China.

Arriving Hong Kong 30 November, she remained in waters off

China and southeast Asian countries to protect American

interests in the area, arriving San Diego 12 June 1950.



With the outbreak of the Korean war in June 1950,

American naval power moved swiftly into the Far East to

support and make possible land operations. USS HORACE A. BASS

sailed 14 July to join the fleet units already deployed off

Korea, arriving 2 August with troops with the 2d Marine

Division. Underwater Demolition Teams and Marine

Reconnaissance units were assigned to her, and the ship

moved to the eastern coast of North Korea to carry out vital

raids on Communist supply lines. Between 11 and 17 August,

she made three successful raids, destroying three tunnels

and two bridges. During this period USS HORACE A. BASS added

bombardment during daylight hours.



As United Nations forces prepared to go on the

offensive, the transport played an important part in the

planning for the upcoming Inchon operation. Her raiding

parties reconnoitered possible beaches 20-25 August, and

departed Pusan 12 September for the main Inchon assault.

USS HORACE A. BASS put her troops ashore in the first wave 15

September, as the brilliantly successful amphibious

operation suddenly reversed the course of the war.



As troops pushed northward, the fast transport resumed

her raiding duties, making two attacks on tunnels and

bridges near Songjin, 6-8 October 1950. For this operation

USS HORACE A. BASS carried Royal Marine Commandos. Late in

October, she took part in operations to clear the port of

Wonsan for another landing, assisting minesweeping groups.

The ship then spent 3 months on beach survey duty before

sailing for the United States 28 January 1951. For this

highly successful tour of duty, USS HORACE A. BASS and her

Special Operations Group received the Navy Unit

Commendation.



The veteran ship steamed toward Korea again 24

September 1951 and, after stopping at Yokosuka, resumed

bombardment and raiding duties along the coast of North

Korea. In 14 separate raids with American, British, and

Republic of Korea landing parties, USS HORACE A. BASS did much

to interrupt the all-important supply lines from the north,

so vulnerable to mobile forces afloat. She completed her

second tour of duty in Korea 3 July, when she sailed from

Yokosuka. The ship arrived San Diego, 20 July 1952.



USS HORACE A. BASS spent the next year in operations off

the California coast, but sailed 15 July 1953 for her third

tour of Korean duty. Upon her arrival Yokosuka 3 August,

the ship became flagship of an Amphibious Control Squadron,

and took part in various training landings in Japan. She

also conducted three survey operations and two demolition

assignments on the Korean coast, where the armistice was now

in effect. The ship visited other Pacific ports during this

period before departing Yokosuka 5 April 1954.



The ship operated off the West Coast on training

cruises and antisubmarine exercises until getting underway

for the Far Fast again 23 October 1954. She carried on

practice landings in Korea and took part in fleet exercises

until February, when she moved to the Formosa Straits to

evacuate Nationalist Chinese troops from the Tachen Islands.

With this important Cold War operation over, USS HORACE A. BASS

steamed to Haiphong Indochina(Vietnam), 26 February to take part in

operation "Passage to Freedom," as thousands of Vietnamese

from the north fled Communist domination. The transporting

of these civilians to the south was completed 20 March and

the ship was underway from Sasebo, Japan, 4 April 1955,

bound for San Diego.



After her arrival, USS HORACE A. BASS was transferred to

the Atlantic Fleet, transiting the Canal 2-4 June and

arriving Philadelphia 10 June 1955. She was then assigned

to the 4th Naval District as a naval reserve training ship.

During the years that followed, the fast transport made

short cruises with naval reservists to Caribbean ports, Nova

Scotia, and Newfoundland, helping to maintain the skills of

hundreds of reserve officers and men. She arrived Orange,

Tex., 3 November 1958, and decommissioned 9 February 1959.

USS HORACE A. BASS entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange,

where she remained.



USS HORACE A. BASS received two battle stars for World War

II service, and six battle stars in addition to her Navy

Unit Commendation for Korean War service.





Struck from the Navy Register on 15 September 1974,

USS HORACE A. BASS was sold on 1 July 1975 for scrap

[sn-e3]

Bill I'm sure the crew will welcome you to their reunion we have many guest at ours and we welcome everyone. Its fun to tell new people our sea stories. God knows our wife and kids are tired of them.

[Jerry D]

to the crew at the reunion of the USS Horace A. Bass and God Bless those who can't make it to the reunion because they have already made that trip to see the Almighty & to save us a spot when we arrive on those shores for our last leave