What ship? Disney Design

[collector]

Very unflattering shot of my mother on an unknown Naval vessel.

The original slide is in storage somewhere, but I thought some forum member might recognize the Disney Art and name the ship.

The time frame was early '50s, possibly in the Med.

 

Should this be in the photo section?

[disneydave]

Unfortunately, I have nothing on this design. There are around a dozen Disney designs with a kangaroo in them, but none for a naval unit and none that match the illustration. Sorry. While my database covers up until 1945, I was hoping maybe this one was designed during WW II and was still in use when the photo was taken post-war. Also, my database is incomplete and is missing about 100 or so of the official designs created during the war.

[P-40Warhawk]

Perhaps some kind of tender (for destroyers or submarines)? That's what it seems to be inferring. Nice photo.

[firefighter]

Probably a troop ship, APA, LKA, etc..?

[collector]

Im' guessing troop ship too, could it be the Geiger?

[Salvage Sailor]

Ashland class dock landing ship USS EPPING FOREST (LSD-4) from my collection. In service 1943 to 1968

[Salvage Sailor]

USS EPPING FOREST (LSD-4), her 1950 to 1962 patch

[Salvage Sailor]

The Island Hopper USS EPPING FOREST LSD-4 (1943-1963) She was designated a mine countermeasures support ship and redesignated (MCS-7) 30 November 1962.

 

The USS Epping Forest (LSD-4) was a 7,900 ton Ashland class dock landing ship named after the Virginia estate where George Washington’s mother was born. Built at Oakland, California, and originally classified as a mechanized artillery transport (APM), she was reclassified in 1941 and commissioned on October 11, 1943.

Action in World War II

The Epping Forest sailed from San Diego on January 13, 1944, carrying marines bound for training in the Hawaiian Islands. Having disembarked those troops, she then loaded for the assault on the Marshall Islands. She participated in the initial landings on Roi and Namur. Replenished at Funafuti, she continued to Tulagi to embark elements of the 1st Marine division. The men and equipment were landed at Emirau on March 20. For the next three weeks she carried reinforcements to Emirau from Guadalcanal.

In April the ship traveled to Finschhafen to prepare for the operations at Hollandia. Following the pre-invasion bombardment of Aitape, she launched her landing craft and reloaded at Finschhafen. She made several trips to deliver supplies to both Aitape and Hollandia. Her next assignment was to sail to Guadalcanal to pick up a marine contingent headed for Guam. Initial landings took place July 21. For the following month she shuttled troops and equipment from Guadalcanal to Manus.

The Epping Forest moved to the waters off Peleliu, where she repaired landing craft following the September 15 assault. The ship then steamed to Hollandia for staging and subsequently delivered engineers and their equipment to Leyte Gulf for the initial landings October 20. From then until December she transported men and gear between Hollandia and Leyte. In January of 1945, the ship launched boats for the landing at Lingayen Gulf, moving on to the invasion of Okinawa in April. The ship returned to the U.S. in July and was there when the war ended.

After the War

She delivered small boats to Bikini Atoll for the atomic bomb tests in June 1946 and was decommissioned in March 1947. Recommissioned in 1950, she served two tours in Korea. For the remainder of her career she deployed frequently to the Far East to operate with 7th Fleet. In the summer of 1954 she helped transport refugees from French Indochina as part of the “Passage to Freedom” mission. Changing homeport to Sasebo, Japan in 1960, she served as flagship for Mine Flotilla One. The ship earned a total of 13 battle stars for service, eight for World War II and five for Korea. She was decommissioned on November 1, 1968, and sold the next year for scrapping.

[disneydave]

I'm not convinced the design in question was created for the Epping Forest. I could be wrong but there seems to be so many different design elements. I will try and see if my contact at Disney can give me any further info.

[Salvage Sailor]

Aye Dave,

 

I posted this for further discussion and research (and also to see if collector knows if his mom crossed paths with this ship in the 1950's)

[Salvage Sailor]

Just to throw out another slender option, this is another ship which used the Kangaroo in it's heraldry

 

 

[disneydave]

I checked my database, which runs up to 1945. I am missing around 100 or so official listings in my database, mainly from the 1943-44 time frame. This one might be amongst them. Also, it is possible the first patches you listed could be based on the design. it wouldn't be the first time service personnel jigged their official Disney insignia to make it more personal and apropos.

[Salvage Sailor]

Another EPPING FOREST patch from an auction listing