View source for USS Kleinsmith

{{Short description|US Navy transport ship}}
{{for|the cancelled destroyer escort|USS Kleinsmith (DE-376)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=USS Kleinsmith (APD-134) underway off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, circa 1948-1949.jpg
 |image_caption=''Kleinsmith'' underway off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ''ca.'' 1948-49.
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |country=United States
 |flag= {{USN flag|1960}}
 |name=USS ''Kleinsmith'' (DE-718)
 |namesake=Charles Kleinsmith
 |ordered=1942, as {{sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort|1}}
 |builder=[[Defoe Shipbuilding Company]], [[Bay City, Michigan]]
 |reclassified=APD-134, 17 July 1944
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=yes
 |laid_down=8 August 1944
 |launched=27 January 1945
 |commissioned= 12 June 1945
 |decommissioned= 16 May 1960
 |struck= 16 May 1960
 |fate=Transferred to the [[Republic of China]], 16 May 1960
 }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/career
 |country=Taiwan
 |flag={{shipboxflag|Republic of China|naval}}
 |name=ROCS ''Tien Shan'' (APD-215)
 |namesake=
 |acquired=16 May 1960
 |commissioned=
 |reclassified=PF-615
 }}

|section5={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=yes
 |decommissioned=1997 or 1998
 |struck=
 |fate=Scrapped
 }}

|section6={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |class={{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}}
 |displacement= {{convert|1450|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
 |length= {{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 |beam= {{convert|36|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |draft= {{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |depth=
 |hold_depth=
 |propulsion=*2 × [[Combustion Engineering]] DR [[boilers]]
             *Turbo-electric drive with 2 × [[General Electric]] steam [[turbines]]
             *2 × solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb. 3-bladed [[propeller]]s, {{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}},  {{convert|7|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}} pitch
             *{{convert|12000|hp|MW|abbr=on}}
             *2 [[rudder]]s
             *359 tons fuel oil
 |speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
 |range=*{{convert|3700|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|abbr=on}}
        *{{convert|6000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
 |boats=4 × [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]]s
 |capacity=
 |troops=162 troops
 |complement=204 (12 officers, 192 enlisted)
 |armament=*1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun]]
           *3 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm guns]]
           *6 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]
           *2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
 |armor=
 |notes=
 }}
}}
'''USS ''Kleinsmith'' (APD-134)''', ex-'''DE-718''', was a {{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}} for the [[United States Navy]].  She was named for Chief Watertender Charles Kleinsmith (1904–1942), who was posthumously awarded the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] for his heroism during the [[Battle of Midway]].

==Namesake==
Charles Kleinsmith was born on 28 September 1904 in [[Zionsville, Pennsylvania|Zionsville]], [[Pennsylvania]].  He enlisted in the United States Navy on 26 October 1922 as an [[apprentice seaman]]. Until honorably discharged on 5 October 1926 as [[Seaman (rank)|fireman]] second class, he served on board several ships, including the [[battleship]]s {{USS|Wyoming|BB-32|6}} and {{USS|Maryland|BB-46|6}}.

Kleinsmith reenlisted in the Navy on 20 December 1928, and during the next 11 years he had duty on board the [[light cruiser]]s {{USS|Milwaukee|CL-5|6}} and {{USS|Cincinnati|CL-6|6}}, the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Portland|CA-33|6}} and the light cruiser {{USS|Honolulu|CL-48|6}}. He reported aboard the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}} on 27 December 1939 and transferred to the aircraft carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} on 31 October 1940. He achieved the rank of [[Chief petty officer|chief]] [[watertender]].

During the [[Battle of Midway]] on 4 June 1942, Chief Watertender Kleinsmith maintained auxiliary power on ''Yorktown'' after an intense [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] bombing attack extinguished the fires in all of her [[boiler]]s but one. At the end of the attack, Kleinsmith was missing and presumed dead. He was posthumously awarded the [[Navy Cross]].

==Construction and commissioning==
Originally a {{sclass|Rudderow|destroyer escort}} designated '''DE-718''', ''Kleinsmith'' was re-designated as '''APD-134''' on 17 July 1944, even before being laid down on 30 August 1944 at the [[Defoe Shipbuilding Company]], [[Bay City, Michigan]]. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Agnes Kleinsmith.  Builders trials before her pre-commissioning cruise were done in [[Lake Huron]].

After completion, ''Kleinsmith'' sailed from the builder's yard at Bay City to [[Chicago, Illinois]].  From there, they went through the [[Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal]] and down the [[Chicago River]] to [[Joliet, Illinois]], where pontoons were attached to the ship so it could be pushed down the [[Des Plaines River]], [[Illinois River]], and [[Mississippi River]] as part of a barge train.  After arriving at the [[Todd Johnson Shipyard]] in [[Algiers, Louisiana]], on the west bank of the Mississippi at [[New Orleans]], the rest of the crew reported aboard, and ''Kleinsmith'' was commissioned at New Orleans on 12 June 1945.

==Service history==

===1945&ndash;1951===
As an APD, her primary role was to land raiding parties on enemy beaches and [[Underwater Demolition Team]]s (UDT) personnel on beach obstacle clearance operations.  APDs also retained the sound gear and some [[anti-submarine]] weapons of [[destroyer escorts]], and served as escorts to amphibious groups.  Because they could take on extra personnel, they were often designated as rescue ships if a transport went down.

After shakedown out of [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], ''Kleinsmith'' arrived at [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk, Virginia]], on 21 July.  Departing on 4 August for the Pacific, the high-speed transport steamed via the [[Panama Canal]], [[San Diego]], and [[Pearl Harbor]], and reached [[Buckner Bay]], [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], on 1 October.  She operated between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands until 21 February 1946.  She then sailed from [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]] via the [[Marshall Islands]] and Pearl Harbor, arriving at [[San Francisco]] on 24 March with 118 returning veterans embarked.  Departing on 10 April, she proceeded via the [[Panama Canal]] to the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on 1 May 1946.

Based at Norfolk and [[Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek|NAB Little Creek]], during the next six years, ''Kleinsmith'' operated along the [[Atlantic]] coast from [[Labrador]] to [[Venezuela]] while conducting [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] and [[anti-submarine]] operations.  She served primarily as an amphibious command ship; many of her cruises carried her into the [[Caribbean]], where she operated out of [[Puerto Rico]], the [[Virgin Islands]], and Guantanamo Bay.

===1951&ndash;1960===
During January 1951, the ''Kleinsmith'' embarked an [[Underwater Demolition Team]] (UDT) at Little Creek to participate in the filming of ''[[The Frogmen]]'', a [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] film chronicling the adventures of the Navy's UDT divers in the Pacific during World War II. Departing Norfolk on 3 January 1951, the warship stopped at [[Key West]], [[Florida]], and [[Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]], [[St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]], [[United States Virgin Islands]], before commencing ten days of filming between 15 January and 6 February. According to the command historian, "[[Dana Andrews]] and [[Richard Widmark]] helped make the old 'klinker-dinker' a movie star."

Returning from the Caribbean on 13 February 1951, ''Kleinsmith'' departed Little Creek on 5 March on the first of four deployments to the [[Mediterranean Sea]].  Arriving at [[Gibraltar]] on 15 March with UDT personnel embarked, she deployed with the [[United States Sixth Fleet|6th Fleet]] and participated in amphibious operations that ranged from [[Oran]], [[Algeria]], to [[Phaleron Bay]], [[Greece]].  After serving as an amphibious control ship, she departed Gibraltar on 26 June for the United States, arriving at Little Creek on 6 July. On 19 July 1952, she departed for another four-month deployment with the 6th Fleet, and supported its important peace-keeping activities off the troubled lands of the Mediterranean.

Returning to Little Creek on 29 January 1955, ''Kleinsmith'' resumed operations along the eastern seaboard to the Caribbean.  On 9 January 1957, she again departed for duty with the 6th Fleet, and for almost three months operated in the Eastern Mediterranean.  In response to an urgent request from [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] of [[Jordan]], whose government was threatened with leftist-oriented, [[Egypt]]ian-supported subversion, ''Kleinsmith'' departed [[La Spezia]], [[Italy]], on 25 April for the [[Levant|Levantine Coast]].  Arriving off [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]], on 30 April, she joined ships of the 6th Fleet in a formidable display of seapower, designed to show U.S. determination that the integrity and independence of nations in the [[Middle East]] would be guaranteed against [[Communist]] subversion or aggression.  Remaining on station until 3 May, she then departed [[Rhodes]], Greece, on 18 May, and returned to Little Creek on 1 June.

Less than three months later, ''Kleinsmith'' sailed once again for the Mediterranean, arriving at [[Palermo]], Sicily, on 15 September.  During the previous August, a pro-Soviet takeover of the Syrian Army had threatened the stability of the Middle East.  The high-speed transport proceeded to the Eastern Mediterranean on 19 September, and operated there to prevent aggression and to preserve peace.  She departed [[Barcelona]], Spain, on 4 November, and arrived back at Little Creek on 17 November.

In 1958, ''Kleinsmith'' continued her activities along the Atlantic coast.  While operating out of Guantanamo Bay on 24 October, she rescued 56 U.S. citizens and 3 foreign nationals at [[Nicaro]], Cuba, where they were endangered by military operations between the Cuban Army and the [[Fidel Castro]]'s rebels.  From 27 May to 3 August 1959, she cruised to the [[Great Lakes]] via the newly opened [[St. Lawrence Seaway]].  On 1 April 1960, ''Kleinsmith'' departed Little Creek for the Pacific.  Steaming via the Panama Canal, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, and [[Guam]], she arrived [[Zuoying District|Tsoying]], [[Taiwan]], on 15 May. ''Kleinsmith'' was decommissioned on 16 May 1960, and was transferred the same day to the Nationalist Government of the [[Republic of China]].
[[File:ROCS Tien Shan (APD-815).jpg|thumb|''Tien Shan'' moored, date unknown]]

=== ROCS ''Tien Shan'' ===
The ship served in the [[Republic of China Navy]] as '''ROCS ''Tien Shan'' (APD-315)''', (later renumbered 215, 615, and 815).  In the early 1970s, ''Tien Shan'' was fitted with a second 5-inch/38 mount aft, a [[MIM-72 Chaparral|Sea Chaparral]] [[surface-to-air missile]] launcher, and [[anti-submarine warfare|ASW]] [[torpedo tube]]s.  At this time, she was re-rated as a [[patrol frigate]].  In the 1980s, ''Tien Shan'', and other surviving ships of her class which were also transferred to Taiwan, were assigned to the Customs Service Coastal Patrol command, where they patrolled the [[economic exclusion zone]].  In this role, their armament was reduced to just one twin 40&nbsp;mm mount in front of the bridge.  She was still active in this role in 1995. Her decommissioning year is variously reported as 1997 or 1998.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kleinsmith.html}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Kleinsmith (APD-134)}}
* {{navsource|10/04/04134|USS Kleinsmith}}

{{Rudderow class destroyer escort}}
{{Crosley class transport}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinsmith (APD-134)}}
[[Category:Crosley-class high speed transports]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bay City, Michigan]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Crosley-class high speed transports of the Republic of China Navy]]