View source for USS Kirwin

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Kirwin (APD-90).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Kirwin'' in 1968
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Kirwin''
|Ship namesake=[[Lieutenant]] John J. Kirwin (1918-1943), a [[U.S. Navy]] [[Commissioned officer|officer]] and [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] recipient
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|Ship laid down=14 February 1944
|Ship launched=15 June 1944
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Andrew J. Kirwin
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=4 November 1945
|Ship decommissioned=6 April 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=15 January 1965
|Ship decommissioned=1969
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship struck=15 September 1974
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=*From [[destroyer escort]] (DE-229) to [[high-speed transport]] (APD-90) 17 July 1944
*Amphibious transport, small (LPR-90) 1 January 1969
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 11 August 1975
|Ship notes=Laid down as [[Rudderow class destroyer escort|''Rudderow''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] USS ''Kirwin'' (DE-229)
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Crosley|high speed transport}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|2130|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|12|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=162
|Ship complement=204
|Ship armament=*1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun
*6 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm guns]]
*6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]
*2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
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'''USS ''Kirwin'' (APD-90)''', ex-'''DE-229''', later '''LPR-90''', was a [[United States Navy]] [[high speed transport|high-speed transport]] in commission from 1945 to 1946 and from 1965 to 1969.

==Namesake==
John Joseph Kirwin was born on 4 July 1918 in [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], [[Rhode Island]]. He [[Enlisted man|enlisted]] in the [[United States Naval Reserve]] on 11 December 1935. He was appointed [[Midshipman#United States Naval and Merchant Marine Academies|midshipman]] on 11 August 1937, and [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] on 7 February 1941, reporting for duty aboard [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Savannah|CL-42|6}}.

During World War II, Kirwin was appointed [[Lieutenant, junior grade]], on 16 June 1942, and saw action aboard ''Savannah'' in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] and in [[Operation Torch]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[invasion]] of [[North Africa]]. He was promoted to [[Lieutenant]] on 1 December 1942, and saw further combat aboard ''Savannah'' in [[Operation Husky]], the Allied invasion of [[Sicily]].

''Savannah'' then supported [[Operation Avalanche]], the Allied invasion of mainland [[Italy]] at [[Salerno]]. On 11 September 1943, while [[Bombardment|bombarding]] German shore defenses in [[Salerno Bay]], ''Savannah'' was among [[cruiser]]s which came under heavy German aerial attack. The cruisers and [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]] drove off nearly 60 German [[bomber]]s before a [[Dornier Do 217|Dornier Do 217K-2]] bomber hit ''Savannah'' with a [[Fritz X]] [[radio]]-controlled, armor-piercing guided [[Aerial bomb|bomb]]. It pierced the armored roof of the No. 3 [[gun turret]] immediately in front of the ship{{'}}s [[Bridge (ship)|bridge]], passed through three [[Deck (ship)|decks]] into the lower [[Shell (projectile)|shell]]-handling room, and exploded there, blowing a gaping hole in the ship{{'}}s bottom, and tearing open a seam in the ship{{'}}s [[Port (nautical)|port]] side. For 30 minutes, secondary explosions in the gun room hampered [[Firefighting|fire-fighting]] efforts.

Kirwin was at his [[Battle stations|battle station]] as turret officer in No. 3 turret when the bomb struck. He remained behind in the turret to supervise the evacuation of as many men as possible, was overcome by heat and toxic smoke, and died at his station. Kirwin was posthumously awarded the [[Navy Cross]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Kirwin'' was laid down as the [[Rudderow class destroyer escort|''Rudderow''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] USS ''Kirwin'' (DE-229) on 14 February 1944 by the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], and was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 15 June 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Andrew J. Kirwin, the mother of the ship{{'}}s namesake. The ship was reclassified as a [[Crosley class transport|''Crosley''-class]] [[high-speed transport]] and redesignated APD-90 on 17 July 1944. After conversion to her new role, she was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 4 November 1945.

== First period in commission, 1945-1946 ==
After [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] in the [[Chesapeake Bay]], ''Kirwin'' cleared [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]], on 29 January 1946, and arrived at [[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]], on 31 January 1946. She was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] there on 6 April 1946 and placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] there on the [[St. Johns River]] in the Florida Group of the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]].

== Second period in commission, 1965-1969 ==

In the autumn of 1964, the high-speed transport [[USS Earle B. Hall (APD-107)|USS ''Earle B. Hall'' (APD-107)]] suffered a major engineering casualty that caused her to lose all power, and she was deemed not worth repairing. ''Kirwin'' was chosen to replace her. Accordingly, on 30 November 1964, ''Kirwin'' arrived under tow at [[Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek]] at [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]], Virginia, and was berthed alongside ''Earle B. Hall''. There ''Kirwin'' underwent reactivation, with ''Earle B. Hall''{{'}}s crew readying her for recommissioning. On 15 January 1965, after almost 19 years in reserve, ''Kirwin'' was recommissioned and ''Earle B. Hall'' was simultaneously decommissioned, with ''Earle B. Hall''{{'}}s crew transferring to ''Kirwin''.

In February 1965, ''Kirwin'' moved to [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]], Virginia, for [[wikt:overhaul|overhaul]]. She got underway for [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], on 6 July 1965 and spent the next five weeks on [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear]] defense, [[antisubmarine warfare]], and gunnery exercises. She visited [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], [[Puerto Rico]], then returned to Little Creek, arriving there on 22 August 1965.

On 29 November 1965, ''Kirwin'' departed for the [[Caribbean]] to join [[Task Force]] 184 for [[amphibious warfare]] and antisubmarine exercises. She returned to Little Creek on 16 December 1965.

In 1966 ''Kirwin'' operated out of Little Creek on training exercises along the [[United States East Coast]] and in the Caribbean until heading for the [[Mediterranean]] on 15 August 1966. Arriving at [[Naval Station Rota, Spain|Naval Station Rota]] at [[Rota, Spain|Rota]], [[Spain]], on 25 August 1966, she visited [[Italy]], [[Malta]], [[Greece]], [[Tunisia]], Spain, and [[Morocco]] before returning to Little Creek on 3 December 1966.

Decommissioned Dec. 16th, 1968 Orange, Texas

''Kirwin'' was reclassified as an "amphibious transport, small" and redesignated LPR-90 on 1 January 1969.

:''[History needed for 1969]''

==Final decommissioning and disposal==
''Kirwin'' was decommissioned in 1969. She was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 15 September 1974 and sold for scrapping on 11 August 1975 to [[J. R. Steel, Inc.]], [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], [[Texas]], for $79,002 ([[USD]]).

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/k4/kirwin.htm}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/04/04090.htm NavSource Online: DE-229 / APD-90 / LPR-90 Kirwin]
*[http://earlebhall.com/history.html USS Earle B. Hall APD-107]

{{Crosley class transport}}
{{Rudderow class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirwin (APD-90)}}
[[Category:Crosley-class high speed transports]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]