William M. Hobby

William M. Hobby

(APD-95: dp. 1,650 1. 306'0"; b. 37'0"; dr. 12'7"; s. 23.6 k.; cpl. 201; trp. 162; a. 1 5", 6 40mm., 620mm.; 2 dct.; cl. Charles Lawrence)

William M. Hobby (DE-236) was laid down on 15 November 1943 at the Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard. Since she had been constructed in a drydock, there was no launching ceremony per se, and she was floated out on 2 February 1944. The ship was redesignated a fast transport, APD-95, on 17 July 1944, and she was completed as such at her builder's yard. She was simultaneously christened and commissioned at Charleston on 4 April 1945. Miss Catherine Hobby, the sister of the late Commander Hobby, sponsored the ship; Lt. Comdr. Frank N. Christiansen, USNR, was her first commanding officer.

Following shakedown training in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, William M. Hobby proceeded to Norfolk, VA. From 16 to 21 May, the new fast transport conducted an "amphibious shakedown," including shore bombardment exercises off Bloodsworth Island in Chesapeake Bay. After post-shakedown repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard, William M. Hobby held additional shakedown gunnery training in Chesapeake Bay before she departed Hampton Roads, VA., on 3 June, bound for Panama in company with her sistership Amesbury(APD-46).

William M. Hobby reached Christobal on 8 June, completed the transit of the canal on the 10th, and set course for the California coast immediately thereafter. Arriving at San Diego on the 17th, the fast transport got underway for the Hawaiian Islands in company with Ameabury and O'Reilly (DE-330) on the 20th.

Making Pearl Harbor on the 27th, William M. Hobby trained underwater demolition teams (UDT's) at Maaleea Bay, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, in July before she embarked UDT 29 for transportation to the west coast. Departing the Hawaiian Islands on 2 August, Willtam M. Hobby made port at Oceanside, Calif.— near San Diego—one week later.

Shifting briefly to San Pedro, the fast transport returned to Oceanside and disembarked UDT 29 on 13 August. The following day, Japan surrendered, ending the war in the Pacific. On the 16th, William M. Hobby sailed for Hawaii.

Reaching Pearl Harbor on the 22d, the fast transport got underway on the 24th for the Marshall Islands, in company with Ira Jeffrey (APD-44) and Blessman (APD 48), and arrived at Eniwetok on 1 September. Pushing on to the Philippines, she anchored in Manila Bay on the 5th. William M. Hobby cruised in the Philippine archipelago—touching at Subic Bay, Zamboanga, Mindanao, Bugo, Macajelar Bay and San Pedro Bay— until she sailed for Okinawa, and from thence to Japan.

Reaching Wakayama, Japan, on 28 September, William M. Hobby soon got underway for Hiro Wan, Honshu, with UDT 5 embarked. Daybreak on 1 October found the fast transport entering the Inland Sea. There she joined Traug.Thamorning, the ship sighted a floating mine off her port bow and destroyed it with 40-millimeter, 20-millimeter, and rifle fire. The ship's embarked UDT reconnoitered beaches and shore installations at Hiro Wan from 2 to 10 October to prepare the way for the arrival of American occupation troops in the Kure area.

On 11 October, William M. Hobby got underway for the island of Shikoku and arrived at the port of Mitsuhama later that day. The fast transport disembarked the 15 American Army officers, 18 enlisted men, and two Japanese officers whom she had carried as passengers and remained at anchor off Mitsuhama while UDT 5 reconnoitered the beaches there.

After returning once more to Hiro Wan, William M. Hobby got underway for the United States on 14 October. Proceeding via Guam, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and the Panama Canal, she arrived at Philadelphia on 9 December. The fast transport subsequently shifted southward via Norfolk to Green Cove Springs, Fla., where she arrived on 6 January 1946. She was decommissioned there and placed in reserve on 6 April 1946

William M. Hobby remained in reserve until she was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1967. Transferred to the government of South Korea on a grant-in-aid on 23 July 1967, the fast transport was renamed Chr Ju (PG-87). Initially classified as a gunboat (PG), she was later reclassified in Korean service to APD-87 in 1972. She remained in service with the Korean Navy into 1979.