View source for USS Rankin (AKA-103)

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{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin: 0 0 1em 0.5em"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:USSRankin(AKA-103).jpg|300px]] '''USS ''Rankin'' (AKA-103 / LKA-103)''' <br/>
|-
!colspan="2" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| History 
|-
|Ordered:
| July 1944
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Laid down]]:
| 31 October 1944
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Launched]]:
| 22 December 1944
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Commissioned]]:
| 25 February 1945
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Decommissioned]]:
| 21 May 1947
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Recommissioned]]:
| 22 March 1952
|-
|[[Ship ceremonies|Decommissioned]]:
| 11 May 1971
|-
|[[Naval Vessel Register|Struck]]:
| 1 January 1977
|-
|Fate:
| Sunk as a fishing & diving reef off Stuart, Florida 24 July 1988
|-
|Motto:
| "Ready Now"
|-
!colspan="2" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| General Characteristics
|-
|Hull Type:
| [[Type C2 ship|C2-S-AJ3]]
|-
|[[Ship measurements|Displacement]]:
| 8,635&nbsp;tons light, 13,910&nbsp;tons loaded
|-
|[[Ship measurements|Length]]:
| 459&nbsp;ft 2&nbsp;in (140&nbsp;m)
|-
|[[Ship measurements|Beam]]:
| 63&nbsp;ft (19.2&nbsp;m)
|-
|[[Ship measurements|Draft]]:
| 26&nbsp;ft 4&nbsp;in (8.0&nbsp;m)
|-
|[[Ship propulsion|Propulsion]]:
| GE geared steam turbine drive, single propeller, <br/>6,000&nbsp;[[Ship measurements|shp]] (4.5&nbsp;MW)
|-
|Speed:
| 16.5&nbsp;[[knot (speed)|knots]]  (30.6&nbsp;km/h)
|-
|[[Ship measurements|Complement]]:
| 395 (62 officers, 333 men), plus embarked troops
|-
|Armament:
| 1 × [[5" /38 caliber gun|5"/38 caliber DP gun]], <br/> 4 × [[40mm/56 caliber gun|twin 40&nbsp;mm AA guns]], <br/>16 × [[20mm Oerlikon (autocannon)|20&nbsp;mm AA guns]]
|-
|Boats:
| 14 [[LCVP]], <br/>8 [[LCM]]
|-
|Ship's patch:
|<center>[[Image:USSRankinPatch.png|120px]]</center>
|-
| colspan="2" | <small>NOTES: Some sources report different displacements for ships of this type. Speed and complement may have changed as the ship or her mission were modified. Often one or two LCVPs were replaced by [[LCPL]]s. The 20mm AA guns were removed in 1952.</small>
|}
'''USS ''Rankin'' (AKA-103/LKA-103)''' was a ''Tolland'' class [[attack cargo ship]] named after [[Rankin County, Mississippi]]. Like all AKAs, ''Rankin'' was designed to transport military cargo and [[landing craft]], and use the latter to land weapons, supplies, [[soldiers]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] on enemy shores during [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious operations]]. She was the 103rd of 114 ships eventually built for this purpose. Her construction was part of an emergency program for replacing the hundreds of U.S. [[cargo ships]] lost to enemy attacks during [[World War II]]. The [[Maritime Commission]] administered the program, which existed primarily to build [[merchant ships]]. Dozens of the ships produced by the program were acquired by the Navy and converted into warships, mainly for use in amphibious warfare.

==History==
Built by the [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.]] in the last year of [[World War II]], ''Rankin'' was a commissioned ship for 21 years and five months. Immediately after commissioning in 1945, she sailed to the West Coast for wartime service in the Pacific. Decommissioned after the war, she was put in [[Reserve fleet|mothballs]] on the West Coast, then recommissioned during the [[Korean War]] in 1952. This time she sailed immediately to the East Coast, where she was homeported in Norfolk until her final decommissioning. During her East Coast years, she made many trips to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. 

In 1969, the Navy changed the AKA designation to LKA, and renamed the ''Rankin'' and all other Attack Cargo Ships as Amphibious Cargo Ships. (Other amphibious ships were also redesignated at that time, so that all amphibious designators began with the letter "L".) The ''Rankin'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] in 1971, and was sunk in 1988 as a [[Artificial reef|fishing and diving reef]] off the coast of [[Stuart, Florida]].

The ''Rankin'' was characterized by high morale and outstanding performance, and at one time, she held every award available to a ship of her type. She became the first [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] ship to wear the Gold E, signifying five straight victories in the annual [[battle efficiency competition]]. Her captains included a [[Medal of Honor]] winner, a winner of the [[Navy Cross]], and a member of the Navy's [[Blue Angels]] flight team. Many of her officers later earned [[flag rank]] as Navy [[Rear Admiral|Rear]], [[Vice Admiral|Vice]], and full Admirals. 

===World War II Era===
''Rankin'' (AKA-103) was laid down on 31 October 1944 as Maritime Commission hull 1702 by [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Company]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], and was launched on 22 December 1944, sponsored by Mrs. L. C. Freeman. The ship was acquired by the Navy on 25 January 1945, and ferried to the [[Charleston Navy Yard]] to be converted to an AKA. She was commissioned on 25 February 1945, less than four months after her keel was laid, with [[Lieutenant Commander]] Thomas D. Price as her first commanding officer.

After an Atlantic shakedown, ''Rankin'' steamed on 26 March 1945 in company with ''Tollberg'' (APD-103) for the [[Panama Canal Zone]]. Joining the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] on 1 April, she loaded Marine Corps replacement equipment at San Francisco and steamed for [[Hawaiian Islands|Hawaii]] on 17 April. Intensive training in shipboard procedures and amphibious techniques followed. She then took on 5,000&nbsp;tons of Army ammunition at [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]] and, with ''Tolovana'' (AO-64), steamed on 25 May for [[Ulithi]]. Escorted by [[USS Enright (DE-216)|''Enright'']] (APD-66), the two ships immediately went on to deliver their cargoes at [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. During her 17 days at the [[Battle of Okinawa]], the ship faced more than 100 air raids by [[kamikaze]]. All ammunition was offloaded between air raids.

''Rankin'' left Okinawa on 28 June 1945 in convoy for [[Saipan]]. There, she offloaded her boat group and then steamed independently for [[San Francisco, California]], arriving on 20 July. After taking on her allowance of landing craft, she put in at [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] for repairs. Hostilities ended during loading operations, her ammunition was offloaded, and the ship sailed for the [[Philippines]], arriving in [[Manila]] on 9 September.

Assigned to TransRon 20, ''Rankin'' steamed for [[Lingayen Gulf]]. En route, she touched at [[Subic Bay]], contributed landing craft to the boat pool there, and then began taking on equipment of the 25th Army Division from the [[San Fabian]] beaches. The squadron got underway for Japan on 1 October. After riding at anchor for nearly three weeks while the approaches to [[Nagoya]], southern [[Honshū]], were cleared of [[Naval mines|mines]], the squadron entered that port on 27 October. Rankin embarked Navy personnel there, took on inoperable landing craft at [[Samar (island)|Samar]] in the [[Philippines]], and sailed for home, arriving in San Francisco on 25 November. That same day, Captain William L. McDonald assumed command of the ship. 

On 20 May 1946, Captain Griswold T. Atkins took command. The ship visited China and Japan during 1946 and early 1947. The ship returned home, and on 10 March 1947, CDR [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=106 George D. Arntz] took command. ''Rankin'' was decommissioned on 21 May at San Francisco and entered the Maritime Commission's [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] at [[Suisun Bay]], California.

===1950s===
USS ''Rankin'' was recommissioned on 22 March 1952 at the [[Todd Pacific Shipyard|Todd Shipyard]], [[Alameda, California]], with Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101 Bernard H. Meyer] in command. After shakedown, the ship transited the [[Panama Canal]] to join the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. Operating from [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk]], she began a long second career of support for amphibious training operations along the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] as well as in the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] and [[Mediterranean]].

[[Medal of Honor]] winner Captain (later [[Vice Admiral|VADM]]) [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59 Lawson P. Ramage] took command on 11 April 1953, serving until relieved by Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=223 Malcolm T. Munger] on 19 July 1954. He was succeeded by Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=148 James D. Ferguson] on 20 July 1955, by Captain (later Admiral) [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40 W.F.A. Wendt]on 4 October 1956, and by Captain (later [[RADM]]) [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24 John Harllee] on 11 September 1957. On 18 July 1958, ''Rankin'' was among the [[amphibious forces]] which landed 5,000 U.S. Marines in [[Lebanon Crisis|Lebanon]], in response to a request from the Lebanese Government for assistance in averting civil war.

Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=159 John S. C. Gabbert] took command on 19 February 1959, and two weeks later ''Rankin'' departed Norfolk for a six month cruise to the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. Sixth Fleet. A [[cruise book]] was published to commemorate this trip.

===1960s===
From 1959-1968, ''Rankin'' deployed periodically to the Caribbean with [[Amphibious Squadron]] 10, a fast amphibious squadron with [[Vertical Envelopment]] capabilities. Operating regularly in the Caribbean, she repeatedly called at [[Puerto Rico]], the [[Virgin Islands]], [[Haiti]], [[Jamaica]], and Cuba. 

Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=288 Leonard E. Harmon] assumed command on 10 February 1960, succeeded by by Captain  [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=176 Thomas F. Howe] on 10 March 1961 and by Captain [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=198 John S. Leidel] on 29 May 1962. 

During the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of October and November 1962, caused by the discovery of Russian intermediate-range [[ballistic missiles]] in Cuba, Rankin operated in the force which was marshaled in Cuban waters. In January 1963, ''Rankin'' left [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] with [[PHIBRON]] 10 and components of the 2nd Marine Battalion. In late February, she visited [[Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic]], in company with [[USS Boxer (LPH-4)]] for the inauguration of President [[Juan Bosch]]. For this service, the Rankin received commendations from Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. She returned to Norfolk on 7 March, and in April, as a result of the unstable political situation in [[Haiti]], proceeded to the [[Gulf of Gonave]], which she patrolled for thirty-one days until tensions eased. 

[[Navy Cross]] winner [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58 George C. Cook] took command of ''Rankin'' on 16 July 1963. She subsequently had a yard period at [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]]. Refresher training at [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]] followed early in January 1964. 

Captain (later [[Vice admiral|VADM]]) [http://www.ussrankin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50 William T. Rapp] took command on 22 August 1964. ''Rankin'' participated in exercise "Steel Pike I" off the Spanish coast from 28 September to 3 December. Upon returning to Norfolk, she underwent a tender availability with ''Amphion'' (AR-13), after which she resumed coastal training and readiness operations, and deployments with the Caribbean Amphibious Ready Squadron. During squadron exercises in April, 1965, ''Rankin'' participated in the [[Operation Power Pack|Dominican Republic Intervention]]. Arriving off the coast of Santo Domingo, ''Rankin'' and other ships of PhibRon 10 began the mass evacuation of over 1,000 refugees and U.S. civilian nationals. As a result of this operation, the ''Rankin'' and her personnel were awarded the [[Navy Unit Commendation]] by the [[Secretary of the Navy]]. 

Captain Lester B. Lampman assumed command on 8 August 1966. In October, ''Rankin'' was called on to provide relief to the disaster area of [[Jacmel|Cayes-Jacmel]], Haiti, after [[Hurricane Inez]] caused massive damage. The men of the ''Rankin'' unloaded tons of food, medical supplies, and building supplies to help the stricken people. 

After her regular overhaul in 1967, ''Rankin'' returned to operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean with Amphibious Squadron Ten. Captain John D. Exum took command on 26 September 1967. Deployed to the Caribbean from March to July 1968, ''Rankin'' visited [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], Guantanamo Bay, [[Panama]], [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]], [[St. Croix]], [[Aruba]] and [[Jamaica]]. In August 1968, Rankin took part in exercise "Riverine 68," which was designed to demonstrate to Marine and Naval Forces the latest methods of combating jungle warfare. In November 1968, Rankin was reassigned to Amphibious Squadron Four, and in December, took part in the [[Apollo 8]] Moon Orbital Flight as a secondary recovery ship in the U.S. Navy Recovery Force south of [[Bermuda]]. 

From 1 January 1969, ''Rankin'' was reclassified LKA-103 and redesignated Amphibious Cargo Ship. On [[14 April]], Former [[Blue Angels]] pilot Captain C. Nello Pierozzi assumed command. In late July, she took on Marines and equipment and deployed to the Mediterranean, returning to Norfolk on 13 December. Another cruise book was produced to commemorate this trip.

===1970s===
1970, brought a period of operations off the eastern seaboard, and another July-to-December Mediterranean deployment, also memorialized in a cruise book, with the Sixth Fleet. Captain Jerry T. Becker assumed command on 9 August. ''Rankin'' returned to [[Little Creek, Virginia|Little Creek]] on 14 December 1970. LCDR Philip R. Given assumed command on 2 February 1971, and on 11 May, ''Rankin'' was decommissioned for the second and final time at Little Creek.

===Final Disposition===
On 24 July 1988, the ship was sunk as an artificial fishing and diving reef, six miles off the coast of [[Stuart, Florida]] at 27° 11.333' N by 80° 01.431' W. She rests on her starboard side at a depth of 130&nbsp;feet. The site is popular among fisherman and advanced [[SCUBA diving|SCUBA]] divers.

===Ship Reunions===
In February, 2003, [http://www.ussrankin.org The USS Rankin Association], a reunion and reconnection organization for all people ever associated with the ship, was established. Since then, it has become one of the largest such groups for a ship of the ''Rankin'''s size. The group has located over 1,500 former Rankin shipmates, including every one of the 437 officers who served on the ship, and over 300 deceased former shipmates. The Association has held reunions every year since 2004.

==Honors and Awards==
As a result of her service during World War II, ''Rankin'' was entitled to wear the ribbons associated with the [[American Campaign Medal]], the [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with one star, the [[World War II Victory Medal]], the [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] with an Asian Clasp, the [[National Defense Service Medal]], and the [[China Service Medal]]. 

[[Image:USSRankinRibbons.png]]

During the eight years after her 1952 recommissioning, ''Rankin'' won the [[Battle Efficiency Award]] six times, including an unprecedented five straight from 1956-1960. By special order of  Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, ''Rankin'' sailors were authorized to wear a Gold E on their arms, and the ship wore a Gold E on her stack. In 1958, ''Rankin'' simultaneously held every award available to a ship of her class: the [[Battle Efficiency Award]] (the White E), the Engineering Red E, the communications Green E, gunnery awards for both her 40&nbsp;mm batteries and her 5&nbsp;inch mount, the Assault Boat Coxswain Award, and the [[Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award]]. She was awarded the [[Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal]] for her service in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.

==References==
*[http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/index.html Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships] (Primary source for this article)