Navarro (APA 215) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS NA VARRO: ITS At this critical period in history, the U.S. Navy plays an ever-increasing role in the defense of free nations. We must haveaNavy that is ready to cope with any form of enemy aggression. Small scale enemy offensives must be stopped by the swift arrival of fully equipped combat troops. The Amphibious operations of Task Force 90 during the Korean War, the amphibious landing of U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1958, the effective deterrent provided by combat-ready troops embarked with the Amphibious Force off Laos in 19595 and the landing of combat-ready Marines in Thailand in 1962---these are but a few of the incidents which point out the continuing need for this type of Naval operation. The primary mission of USS NAVARRO is to transport troops to the scene of conflict and land them on an enemy beach with a maximum of surprise and striking power. The main armament of NAVARRO consists of her twenty-four boats, all of which can be waterborn in approximately fifteen minutes. USS NAVARRO was built in Richmond, California in 1944. She is named after NAVARRO County in northeastern Texas. Early in 1945, NAVARRO went to Seattle, Washington to load troops and equipment to be transported to the South Pacific. Sailing on MISSIUN 49: HISTURY January 12, she called at the Hawaiian Islands, Guadalcanal and finally, the Russell Islands, where she carried out an intensive rehearsal for the invasion of Okinawa. NAVARRO arrived off Okinawa on Easter Sunday 1945, the morning that U.S. forces invaded the Island. The next two days were spent in unloading at Okinawa, where NAVARRO was one of the few ships to come through with all her boats intact. The ship then returned to the United States, picked up another load of troops and equipment, and carried them to Okinawa. She was in Ulithi when news of the Japanese surrender was received. ' After the Japanese surrender, NAVARRO participated in the job of returning U.S. troops home. Then, along with many other ships, she was decommissioned' and put into mothballs in Stockton, California, where she remained until the Korean crisis generateda requirement for the rapid expansion of forces. Recommissioned on December 2, 1950, NAVARRO transited the Panama Canal to join the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet where she operated for the next four years. On January 5, 1955, she returned' to the Pacific Fleet, with which she has operated ever since.