Bracken APA-64

Bracken

Bracken is a county in Kentucky.

(APA-64: dp. 4247; 1. 4261; b. 58'; dr. 161; s. 16.9 k.;
cpl. 320; a. 15"; cl. "liam)

Bracken (APA-M) was launched 10 June 1944 by Consolldat~d Steel Corp., Ltd., Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Benjanlin M. LeFebre; acquired from the Maritime Commission 3 October 1944; and commissioned 4 October 1944, Lieutenant Commander C. S. Lee, USNR, in command.

Between 28 October *1944 and 31 March 1945 Bracken operated off the coast of southern California as a training'ship for the crews of 22 subsequent ships of her class.

During May 1945 Bracken took aboard passengers and cargo and proceeded to Pearl Harbor. Departing Pearl Harbor she called at Midway, Hilo, Eniwetok, Ulithl, Okinawa, Saipan, Leyte, Samar, and Cebu taking aboard occupation troops for transportation to Yokohama, Japan, where she arrived 8 September 1945. Bracken then joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet transporting troops from the Par East to the United States. She remained on this duty until February 1946, when she commenced preparation as a target ship for Operation Crossroads.

Bracken survived the atomic test and was maintained for radiological and structural studies until 10 March 1948 when she was towed to the open sea off Kwajalein and sunk. . .