USS Winston (AKA-94/LKA-94) was an in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1957 and from 1961 to 1969. She was scrapped in 1979.
History
Winston (AKA-94) was named after counties in Alabama and Mississippi. She was laid down on 10 July 1944 at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 216), launched on 30 November 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Benjamin Fairless, delivered to the Navy on 18 January 1945, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 19 January 1945.
World War II, 1945
Winston completed her fitting-out at New York and then departed on 3 February, bound for the Virginia Capes. She reached Hampton Roads the following day and, for the next nine days, conducted shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay. Following post-shakedown availability at the Norfolk Navy Yard, she put to sea once again on 1 March, bound for Hawaii. En route, the vessel transited the Panama Canal on 7 March and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 20th. After discharging her cargo, the attack cargo ship stood out of Pearl Harbor on 29 March, set a course for the west coast, and reached San Francisco on 4 April. There, Winston loaded 2,496 tons of cargo bound for the 4th Marine Division, headed back toward Hawaii on 10 April, and arrived at Maui nine days later. She discharged her cargo there and, on 27 April, received orders to conduct amphibious training at Kahoolawe Island. That operation lasted until 1 May. The following day, she stopped briefly at Honolulu before departing Hawaii on her way back to the west coast. She arrived in San Francisco Bay on 9 May, loaded ammunition at Port Chicago, and headed back to Hawaii on the 14th. In June and July, she made two more such round-trip voyages ferrying ammunition between Oahu and San Francisco. After her return to Pearl Harbor in August, Winston resumed duty with the amphibious forces. The war, however, ended before she saw any combat action.
Far East, Atlantic & Pacific deployments, 1945–1950
Winston supported the American postwar occupation in Asia. On 7 September, she stood out of Pearl Harbor to transport the Army's 98th Infantry Division to Japan. She stopped at Saipan from the 19th to the 22nd and arrived at Wakayama, Japan, on 27 September. On 1 October, Winston got underway for the Philippines and, a week later, entered port at Manila. On the 8th, she moved to Subic Bay where she loaded landing craft to replace those she had left with the occupation forces in Japan. The following day, the ship left Subic Bay and headed – via Lingayen Gulf and Aringay – back to Japan. She reached Hiro Wan on 22 October and remained there for eight days. She put to sea again on the 30th and set a course for Pearl Harbor. Winston made a three-day stop at Oahu, from 10 to 13 November, before continuing on toward the United States. She transited the Panama Canal on 29 November and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 December.
For almost two years, the ship plied the waters of the western Atlantic, participating in amphibious maneuvers with Marines from the Central American coast in the south to the shores of Greenland in the north. Late in 1947, Winston was inactivated briefly at Baltimore; but she returned to active service early in 1948. During that year, she resumed exercises with the Marines and travelled the length of the coast of North America. At the beginning of 1949, she embarked units of the 2nd Marine Division and sailed on 3 January for a four-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean. On 24 May, the attack cargo ship returned to the United States from her first cruise with the 6th Fleet. After disembarking the Marines at Morehead City, North Carolina, she proceeded to Norfolk and resumed east coast operations out of that port.