Namesake Donald W. Wolf Reclassified APD-129, 17 July 1944 Construction started 17 April 1944 Length 93 m | Ordered 1942 Commissioned 14 April 1945 Launched 22 July 1944 | |
Name USS Donald W. Wolf (DE-713) Laid down 17 April 1944 as Rudderow-class destroyer escort Builders Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City | ||
USS Donald W. Wolf (APD-129) was a Crosley-class high speed transport of the United States Navy, named for Sergeant Donald W. Wolf (1919–1942), USMC, who was posthoumously awarded the Navy Cross after being killed in action in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
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Donald W. Wolf was laid down by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan as a Rudderow-class destroyer escort with the hull number DE-713. A week before launching, on 17 July 1944, it was decided that Wolf would be completed as a Crosley-class fast transport, with the designation APD-129. She was launched on 22 July 1944, sponsored by Corporal B. S. Wolf, USMCWR, widow of Sergeant Wolf. She was commissioned on 14 April 1945, at the Todd-Johnson Dry Dock Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, with Lieutenant Commander S. C. O'Rourke, in command.
Service history
After training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and overhaul at Norfolk, Virginia, Donald W. Wolf arrived at San Diego, California, on 22 June 1945 for additional training. She embarked an Underwater Demolition Team, and sailed for the western Pacific on 16 August, touching at Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, before arrival at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 4 September. The next day, she got underway to land men at Jinsen for the occupation of Korea, returning to Okinawa on 18 September. A week later, she sailed for the Chinese mainland, stopping at Tientsin, Chefoo, and Tsingtao before returning to Okinawa on 20 October. Donald W. Wolf sailed the next day for the United States, debarking her passengers at San Diego on 11 November. She was placed out of commission in reserve on 15 May 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She never saw any action in World War II, and was in commission for a little over one year
ROCS Hua Shan (PF-33)
Donald W. Wolf was transferred to the Republic of China on 3 April 1965 and served in the Republic of China Navy as ROCS Hua Shan (PF-33).
The ship was eventually struck by the ROC Navy and broken up for scrap.