Named after US Marine Corps Brigadier General Jacob Zeilin (1806-1880),
the 21,900-ton USS Zeilin was originally built as the passenger-cargo
liner SS Silver State by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,
Newport News, Virginia, and was completed in 1921. She was re-named SS President
Jackson on 23 June 1922 and traveled during the 1920’s and 1930’s from
America’s west coast to the Far East. The ship was originally owned by the
Pacific Steamship Line, then the Admiral Orient Line, and finally served with
the Dollar Line. SS President Jackson was acquired by the US Navy in
July 1940 and was commissioned as the troop transport USS Zeilin (AP-9)
on 3 January 1942. The ship, though, was re-designated an amphibious attack
transport (APA-3) on 26 November 1942. Zeilin was approximately 535 feet
long and 72 feet wide, had a top speed of 18 knots, and had a crew of 724
officers and men. The ship was armed with four single 3-inch guns, one quad
40-mm gun mount, one twin 40-mm gun mount, and ten twin 20-mm gun mounts. A
large transport, Zeilin could carry roughly 1,675 troops as well as
2,000 tons of cargo.
During World War II, Zeilin was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater
of operations. During 1942, Zeilin made a round-trip voyage to the south
Pacific and then participated in the assault on the Solomon Islands and the
subsequent battle for Guadalcanal. While off the coast of Guadalcanal, Zeilin
was attacked by Japanese aircraft on 9 November 1942. During the attack, five
enemy dive bombers dropped several bombs on Zeilin. Three of the bombs
made damaging near misses, one of which bounced off the starboard side of the
ship but exploded in the water some 20 to 25 feet below the surface. As a
result of these explosions, Zeilin began to take on a substantial amount
of water and suffered cracked plates and a broken propeller shaft. Though
damaged and listing, the ship remained on station and continued to offload
supplies to the troops on shore until later that month. On 26 November, she
carried wounded troops to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, and then sailed via
Tutuila, Samoa, back to the United States. Zeilin arrived at San Pedro,
California, on 22 December and was overhauled to repair the damage sustained
off Guadalcanal.
After the repairs were completed, Zeilin participated in
operations in Alaskan waters, including the landings at Attu, Aleutian Islands,
in May 1943 and Kiska, Aleutian Islands, in August 1943. From late 1943 to
mid-1944, Zeilin carried troops and supplies for the invasions of Tarawa
in the Gilbert Islands, Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, and Guam in the
Mariana Islands. On 30 July 1944, Zeilin left the Mariana Islands and
headed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving there on 7 August. She continued on
to San Francisco, California, and docked there on 18 August. The ship then
underwent a major overhaul which lasted until the final week in October.
Once that overhaul was completed, Zeilin returned to the Pacific
war zone and arrived at New Guinea on 6 November 1944, where ships were
gathering for the invasion of the Philippines. On 2 January 1945, Zeilin
and the other ships in the invasion force headed for Luzon in the Philippines. Zeilin
arrived off the coast of Luzon on 11 January, two days after the initial
landings. Zeilin completed the disembarking of troops and the unloading
of their supplies and equipment by the evening of 12 January. That night, Zeilin
rendezvoused with a fast transport convoy that was headed for Leyte in the
Philippines. The next morning, a single Japanese plane attacked the convoy.
Dropping down suddenly from the clouds, a kamikaze aircraft suddenly spotted Zeilin
and headed for her. Although Zeilin was firing every gun it had at the
attacking plane, the kamikaze plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ship,
causing a large explosion that started numerous fires. Damage topside was
extensive at the point of impact. The superstructure deck was blown away, deck
framing was bent and buckled, and several staterooms were completely destroyed.
The plane’s engine pierced the superstructure deck and the outboard bulkhead
and ended up in one of the landing boats. Worst of all, the attack cost the
ship seven men killed, three missing (and presumed dead), and 30 injured. The
damage, though extensive, was not fatal, and Zeilin continued on her way
with the convoy.
After making
temporary repairs at Leyte, Zeilin
got underway for the US Navy base at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands on 16
February 1945 and arrived there two days later. The ship participated briefly
in the Iwo Jima campaign, making a voyage to that island from 9 to 16 March. Zeilin brought in reinforcements to Iwo
Jima and, later that month, left the western Pacific to return to the United
States for more permanent repairs. After spending five days in Hawaii (from 12
to 17 April), Zeilin continued on to
San Francisco, where she arrived on 23 April.
The Pacific war
ended in August 1945, just as Zeilin
completed her repairs and was returning to the combat zone. The ship spent the
next few months on occupation duties in Japan and transported troops back to the
United States, arriving in San Francisco on 14 November. The ship made numerous
“shuttle” voyages along the west coast between the California ports of San Diego,
San Francisco, and San Pedro, and then sailed to Bremerton and Seattle,
Washington. This occupied Zeilin for
the remainder of 1945 and January 1946. On 4 February, Zeilin left San Pedro and set her course for the east coast. After
transiting the Panama Canal on 14 February, she continued her voyage and
arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 21 February.
On 19 April
1946, Zeilin was decommissioned at
Portsmouth, Virginia. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 5 June. The
ship was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 3 July 1946 and was sold for
scrapping on 4 May 1948. USS Zeilin
received eight battle stars for her service in World War II.
