Upham APD-99

Upham

(APD-99: dp. 1,390; 1. 306'; b. 37', dr. 12'7", s. 24 k.; cpl. 204; a. 1 5", 6 40mm.; cl. Crosley)

Upham (DE-283) was laid down on 13 December 1943 at Charleston, S.C., by the Charleston Navy Yard launched on 9 March 1944; and sponsored by Mrs. Mabel Upham, the widow of Admiral Upham. The ship was redesignated APD 99 on 17 July 1944 and was converted to a high-speed transport by the Charleston Navy Yard. She was commissioned on 23 July 1945, Lt. Richard E. Farwell, USNR, in command.

Upham conducted her shakedown training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from 8 August to 10 September; during the cruise, the war in the Pacific came to an end with Japan's capitulation in mid-August. Thus, too late to participate in combat, the fast transport exercised with an operational training unit in Chesapeake Bay until 5 October. She then served a brief tour of training duty out of Miami, Fla., from 8 to 22 October.

Then, shifting north to Hampton Roads, Upham reached Norfolk in time for Navy Day festivities before sailing for Jacksonville, Fla., to prepare for inactivation. Decommissioned on 25 April 1946, Upham was placed in the Reserve Fleet group on the St. John's River at Green Cove Springs, Fla. The ship remained inactive until struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1960.

Sold to the government of Colombia in January 1962, the erstwhile fast transport was converted for service as a floating power station and, while not carried on the Colombian Navy list, presumably served in that capacity into the 1970's.