Bayfield (APA 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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England. The planning and preparation for the landing, some of which dated back to 1942, made pos- sible the American success, for the invasion took place in the heaviest storm to sweep the English Channel since 1924. Lowering the boats from the ship and maneuvering in the heavy surf taxed every crew mem- ber,s training and set a precedent for the Amphibious Force. From the waters of the English Channel the BAYFIELD, then enjoying the nickname of the MlVlighty BQ, steamed south into the lVlediterranean to take part in the Invasion of Southern France. With her valuable and experienced crew the BAYFIELD was then ordered from the lVIediterranean to the Pacific where Amphibious Warfare was then the primary concern. Here in the last year of the war she took part in the assaults at lwo ,lima and Okinawa, ia war record' of which the BAYFIELD shall always be proud. V-J Day set the BAYFIELD to work carrying out Operation UlVlagic Carpetn bringing war-weary Amer- ican Soldiers and Marines back to the United States. This was her first peacetime mission and a most happy one. ' In the fall of 1949 during the turbulent Chinese Civil War the BAYFIELD, carrying units of the United States 9th lVlarines, steamed the Chinese Coast ready to evacuate American Nationals or to in- tervene if directed. As the fighting ceased, the BAYFIELD anchored in Shanghai to negotiate with the Communists for an American Naval Base at Shanghai. As part of the terms for the talk the BAYFIEUTS decks were taken over by Communist Chinese. With the failure of the negotiations the BAYFIELD steamed from Shanghai, the last American Ship to see that harbor. , With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in the spring of 1950, the BAYFIELD, then in the Atlantic, was transferred to Pacific waters and participated in the Amphibious Operations at lnchon, Chinnampo and Wonsan. She also took part in the redeployment of troops from the beaches of Hungnam to Pusan. During the Communist push in lndo-China in September of 1954 the ship steamed over 7,000 miles transporting approximately 6,000 lndo-Chinese refugees from the North Coast at Haiphong to Saigon in the south. For the BAYFlELD'S part in this Operation uPassage to Freedom the ship received national attention in a 1955 Readers Digest article entitled uThey'll Remember the BAYFIELDX' ln the fall of 1962 the BAYFIELD, along with other units of the Pacific Amphibious Force, took on a full load of troops and cargo and within 48 hours was steaming south eventually to transit the Panama Canal. This task force stood ready for any emergency in the Caribbean for two months while diplomatic negotiations were being carried out in an attempt to ease the Cuban Crisis. Working at capacity the BAYFIELD can carry 1400 troops and 13,000 tons of cargo, all capable of being offloaded in the heat of an Amphibious assault in a matter of lhours by the highly trained team which makes up the BAYFIELD crew. 23 boats constitute the HBoat Croupi' which storms the beaches with troops and cargo. A A Q All told BAYFIELD has steamed the equivalent of 18 trips around the world in her 21 years of Naval seivice.

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SHIP'S HISTORY Since the first days of American fighting ships the United States Navy has been a proud and power- ful force in the fight to keep the world free. The American Navy is made up of many different types of fighting forces. One of the most prominent of these forces since its beginning in 1942 haS been the Naval Amphibious Force which has grown to become the most powerful Amphibious Force in the world today. The BAYFIELD is a proud representative of this unrivaled American Force. No single ship today more accurately tells the story of American amphibious operations than does the BAYFIELD. Built in San Francisco in 1943 as a merchant ship, the Sea Bass, she was promptly converted to an APA K Attack Transportj in time to participate in the Normandy Invasion as the Flag Ship at Utah Beach. Here the BAYFIELD first tested her double function fFlag Ship and Attack Transportl which she con- tinues to perform today. As the Utah Flag Ship, the BAYFIELD was the nerve center of that historical assault and in addition provided the boats and specially trained coxswains needed to land the T1'00P5 and cargo which she carried within her hull. Before the Normandy Assault which launched General Eisenhoweris drive to crush the Nazis, the BAYFIELD trained extensively on the beachheads of ,No1'tl1C1'11

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Training nd Readiness CAPTAIN JOHN H. HITCHCOCK, USN CQMMANDING oFFlcER SEP 1962 T0 NOV 1963 A 1940 graduate of the University of Wash- ington, Captain Hitchcock enrolled in the V-7 Officers Training Program and received his lVIid- shipman training in the U.S.S. PRAIRIE STATE, graduating in February 1941. Immediately there- after he reported to his first duty station, the U.S.S. lVIAHAN fDD-3645 then serving as a part of the Hawaiian Squadron in the U. S. Pacific Fleet. Captain Hitchcock's duties in the Mahan progressed from those of Torpedo Officer succes- sively through all departments culminating in his assignment as Executive Officer early in 1943. In October of 1944 he was ordered back to the United States from the Pacific Theatre of opera- tions for duty as prospective Executive Officer of the U.S.S. ROWAN QDD-782D and remained aboard in that capacity after commissioning until the end of World War II. In November of 1945 the then LCDR Hitchcock assumed command of the U.S.S. BELET QAPD- 109j and participated in the occupation of Japan. The U.S.S. BELET was ordered into the mothball fleet in 1946 and LCDR Hitchcock's next assign- Rhode Island. His foll slgnment as Officer in 1 wing duties included as- harge, Naval Reserve In- structor Training School, Treasure Island 11947- ment was to the General Line School at Newport, o R 48j, U.S.S. HOLLISTE and Executive Officer 4 1 QDD 7881 as Navigator 1948-501, Post Graduate Studies at Ohio State University f1950-51J, Bu- reau of Naval Personnel Branch - Recruiting -N as Head, Stds. and Policy Division f1951-53j, Com- manding Officer of the U.S.S. RADFORD QDDE- 446j Q1953-555, Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel and Administration, COMCRUDESPAC H955-571r, Bureau of Naval Personnel as Assist- ant Head, Active Plans Branch, Plans Division Q1957-591i , Student at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island f1959-605 , and finally the staff CINCPACFLT, Pearl Harbor, as the Fleet and Fleet Ordnance Offi a . cer f1960-625 before reporting as Commanding Officer, U.S.S. BAYFIELD QAPA-33D on 8 Sep- tember 1962. He was promoted to Commander on 1 July 1951 and to Captain on 1 April 1960. Captain Hitchcock has been awarded the Ameri- can Defense fwith starj, American Area, Pacific Area Q5 starsj, Wlorld War' II Victory, Occupation Service flapanj, China Service fextendedj, Na- tion Defense, Korean Service, and the United Nations Service medals. He is the son of George P. Hitchcock of Eugene, Oregon, and Constance Hitchcock of San Francisco, California. He is married to the former lVIar'garet Walsh of Newport, Rhode Island, and has two sons: John, age 14, and Michael, age 10.