80-g-218856
Commissioning ceremonies on the ship’s fantail, held in a driving snowstorm at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 20 March 1944. Her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander William M. Blackford, USNR, is in the center with some of the crew standing in ranks behind him. Ship in the background is an LST, with bow doors partially opened. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the Collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-218856