USS Yancey (AKA-93/LKA-93) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship built by the Moore Dry Dock Company of Oakland, California for the United States Navy during World War II.
During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis she sailed in support of the U.S. blockade of Cuba, and during the April 1965 U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic she carried almost a quarter of all of the evacuees from Santo Domingo.
Yancey was laid down under a United States Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1193) on 22 May 1944 by the Moore Dry Dock Company at Oakland, California.
[2] She was powered by a single steam turbine capable of generating 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kW),[3] and attained a top speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) during her trials.
[2] After remaining at Pearl Harbor until 27 January 1945, Yancey departed for the Marianas with elements and cargo of the 5th Marine Division as part of Task Group (TG) 51.12 in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima.
After stops for fuel and supplies at Eniwetok and invasion rehearsals at Tinian, the ship arrived off Iwo Jima at 06:24 on 19 February, D-day for the initial landing.
During almost continuous operations for the first four days of the battle, Yancey only lost two landing craft (LCVPs): one to enemy mortar fire, and another to heavy surf.
Slowed by nightly air raids, and high surf that required cargo to be offloaded to LSTs, LSMs, and LCTs, Yancey completed her unloading on 2 March.
The cargo ship sailed with three other transports and a pair of screening destroyers to Saipan and then to Espiritu Santo, where she rejoined her TransRon 16 squadron mates in embarking the 27th Infantry Division.
During her stay off the Okinawa beaches, the ship lost none of her boats and suffered three casualties: two men were wounded by shrapnel, and another broke an arm.
[2] After a short rest-and-recreation stop at Guam, Yancey rejoined her squadron at Ultihi and underwent boiler repairs and intensive antiaircraft training; her crew won numerous five-case "beer prizes" for shooting down target sleeves.
Yancey entered Tokyo Bay on the morning of 2 September, the day Japan signed the formal articles of surrender on the deck of the battleship Missouri anchored there.
Two days later, Yancey again headed for Japanese waters and entered Bungo Suido on the 5th, beginning the long, difficult passage up the Inland Sea along the channel swept through the minefields.
[2] The attack cargo ship, remaining behind when the rest of her squadron was sent back to the United States on 11 October, headed instead to Haiphong, French Indochina to embark Chinese troops.
Yancey took on a capacity load of Army and Navy men returning to the United States for discharge and departed Manila harbor on 27 November.
In addition, the ship visited the New York Naval Shipyard and Davisville, Rhode Island, before being assigned tentatively to TF 68 effective on 9 November.
The next day, she shifted to Port Hueneme, California, where she began loading cargo for Operation Highjump, the U.S. Navy expedition to Antarctica.
She fueled from USS Canisteo 10 nautical miles (19 km) south of Scott Island, Antarctica, purportedly becoming the first ship to conduct an underway refueling below the Antarctic Circle.
[2] On 13 February, Yancey joined TU 68.1.2 which also included the Coast Guard icebreaker, Northwind, towing the attack cargo ship Merrick.
After that period of repairs and alterations, Yancey returned to Port Hueneme to load cargo earmarked for shipment to Pearl Harbor and Guam.
The ship departed from San Diego on 12 January 1962 and reached Norfolk, her new assigned home port, on 2 February, there becoming the newest member of Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 12.
[2] Subsequently, visiting Boston, and Rockland, Maine, Yancey participated in amphibious boat exercises at Provincetown, Massachusetts, before she got underway on 24 July for Davisville, Rhode Island.
[2] On 17 October, Yancey again sailed from Norfolk and proceeded to Morehead City, to load marines and equipment for Operation PhiBrigLex (Amphibious Brigade Exercises) slated for Vieques, Puerto Rico.
[2] On 23 October 1962, President Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba in response to the presence of Soviet missiles on the soil of that island nation.
Yancey's officers and crew vacated their quarters to allow room for female passengers and children, and many slept on the decks of the ship during the passage to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
[2] After debarking her passengers at San Juan on 1 May, the ship took on supplies needed by the American ground forces in Santo Domingo: gasoline, oil, and ammunition.
Driven by the winds in a snowy gale that gusted up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), Yancey dragged her anchors and hit the bridge, knocking it out of service for several weeks.
The ship was decommissioned at Norfolk on 20 January 1971, and entered the James River berthing area of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.