Hull Number: DE-715
Launch Date: 09/30/1944
Commissioned Date: 05/01/1945
Call Sign: NTRU
Other Designations: APD-131
Class: RUDDEROW
RUDDEROW Class
Namesake: WALTER XAVIER YOUNG
WALTER XAVIER YOUNG
A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History
USS WALTER X. YOUNG DE-715
The Tin Can Sailor, July 2010
| Originally designated the RUDDEROW-class DE-715, the WALTER X. YOUNG was laid down at Bay City, Michigan, by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company. She was reclassified a high‑speed transport and redesignated APD‑131 on 15 July 1944. The YOUNG was launched on 30 September 1944 and commissioned on 1 May 1945. Following shakedown and specialized training with underwater demolition teams (UDT) in Fort Pierce, Florida, she left the East Coast on 30 July for San Pedro California. She was en route up the Pacific coast of Mexico when she received word of the August 6th atomic bomb detonation at Hiroshima and, three days later, of a similar blast at Nagasaki. She was in San Diego on 12 August when her crew received the welcome news that Japan had surrendered. No longer would her UDT personnel be preparing for the invasion of Japan. After embarking 93 men of UDT 22, she got underway for Hawaii. There, the YOUNG fueled and provisioned to capacity, loaded UDT explosives, and, on 23 August sailed for Japan.
The YOUNG’s group arrived in Tokyo Bay on 4 September where she reported to the Third Amphibious Force. The force, which included two more APDs and their embarked UDTs, was designated Task Group (TG) 32.2. They had no immediate underwater demolition work because the docks and waters of Yokohama were found to be free of mines and other obstructions and were suitable for immediate use. While operating in Tokyo Bay and awaiting a new demolition assignment, the YOUNG rode out a typhoon, dragging her anchor until she found shelter on the lee side of the bay. On 20 September, the ship’s waiting period ended. In company with the GANTNER (APD‑42), she got underway for Aomori, on the northern end of Honshu. Their task was to conduct a reconaissance and beach survey and clear any obstacles that might impede army landings. The two APDs escorted the CATAMOUNT (LSD‑17) on the short voyage. En route the American warships sank a floating mine with rifle fire. Upon arrival at Mutsu Kaiwan, the GANTNER proceeded to Ominato to pick up local Japanese officials to assist in the mine clearance. The YOUNG went on to Aomori. There, with the aid of underwater sounding devices, she located the hulks of three sunken ships that had not already been marked by the Japanese and swimmers from UDT 22 attached buoys to them. On the 23 September, UDT 22 surveyed the beach and its approaches, but found nothing that required dynamiting. They did attach buoys to several small wrecks at one end of the beach. Otherwise, they found the beach suitable for all types of landing craft and vehicles. After placing beach markers and drawing up maps of the area, the YOUNG’s UDT conducted an additional survey the following day preparing the way for the landings at Aomori on 25 September. Anchoring at Ominato on the evening of 26 September, the ship obtained information concerning Japanese minefields in Tsugaru Strait. The next day, she got underway for Niigata, on the west coast of Honshu. Proceeding independently, the ship rendezvoused off that port with a Japanese tug carrying two American army officers, several Japanese police, and a local pilot. An ensuing conference revealed that the Japanese had swept a channel into Niigata, but the channel’s width was too narrow to provide a reasonable margin of safety for an occupation force of transports. Some 15 miles north of Niigata, however, lay Senami. The YOUNG’s UDT surveyed that beach and found it in excellent condition, although landings would have to be conducted in calm weather or with a prevailing offshore wind because of the beach’s exposed position on the Sea of Japan. Marking and mapping the beach, UDT 22 returned to the YOUNG. The ship got underway for Tokyo Bay, with a brief stop at Hakodate, Hokkaido. She dropped anchor at Yokohama on 30 September. On 12 October, the YOUNG got underway for the states, steaming homeward via Guam and Pearl Harbor. She arrived at San Diego on 2 November and disembarked UDT 22. A ten-day yard period preceded the ship began her final active duty assignment carrying navy and marine corps dischargees to destinations along the coast. The WALTER X. YOUNG was decommissioned on 2 July 1946 and placed in reserve at Stockton, California. She was struck from the navy list on 1 May 1962 and stripped of all militarily useful items and equipment. Subsequently, the WALTER X. YOUNG was towed from her berth with the Stockton Reserve Group to the Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu. There she was converted to a test hulk and sunk during missile‑firing tests on 11 April 1967. |