USS Thurston ( AP - 77 ) USS " Thurston " ( AP - 77 ) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy during World War II . She was named after counties in Nebraska and Washington . " Thurston " was laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 134 ) as SS " Delsantos ( sometimes styled as Del Santos ) on 9 December 1941 at Kearney , New Jersey , by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company , for the Mississippi Shipping Company ; launched on 4 April 1942 ; and delivered on 11 July 1942 . The ship was acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration under a bare boat charter on 13 September 1942 and was renamed Dauphin " and designated AP - 77 on 16 September . However , to avoid confusion with a Canadian ship named " Dauphin " , the ship was again renamed on 18 September , this time as " Thurston " . World War II . Commissioned on 19 September 1942 , with Captain Jack E . Hurff in command , " Thurston " was converted into an auxiliary transport by the Atlantic Basin Iron Works of Brooklyn , New York , and was ready for sea on the 24th . Operation Torch . Following shakedown training out of Little Creek , Virginia , and landing exercises with Army units at Solomons Island , Maryland , the transport sortied on 24 October with Task Group ( TG ) 34 . 9 , the Center Attack Force , for the invasion of North Africa . Her holds and decks were combat - loaded with men and equipment of the 15th Infantry Regiment . On the morning of 8 November , she arrived in the transport area off Fedhala , French Morocco . Since her troops were assigned to the reserve force , she did not begin disembarking them until late that evening . On the 13th , " Thurston " entered Casablanca harbor to finish unloading supplies and equipment . She began her return voyage on the 15th and arrived at Hampton Roads 11 days later . Two round - trip voyages across the Atlantic carrying reinforcements to North Africa were next on her agenda . She then spent March and April undergoing repairs and alterations . Operation Husky . On 10 May , the ship sailed with convoy UGF - 8A for Oran with troops to be used in the Operation Husky , the invasion of Sicily . In early June , " Thurston " embarked units of the 16th Infantry Regiment and headed to Algiers for landing rehearsals . On 6 July , she sortied with Task force ( TF ) 81 and , on the 9th , arrived in the assault area off Gela . The ship landed the troops early the next morning , completed unloading on the 12th , and returned via Algiers to Oran . On 22 July , she headed to New York for more troops and supplies and was back at Oran on 2 September . Five days later , she embarked 600 German prisoners of war and disembarked them at New York on the 22nd . Air attack off Algiers . On 8 October , the transport — loaded with American troops — joined Convoy UT - 3 and debarked them at Gourock , Scotland , on the 17th . She then proceeded to Glasgow to pick up Canadian troops , returned to Gourock , and joined a convoy for North Africa . The convoy arrived off Algiers on 6 November and , that evening , was subjected to an air attack in which destroyer , SS " Santa Elena " , and the Dutch ship SS " Mornix van St . Aldegonde " were torpedo ed and sunk while Allied ships splashed six German planes . The remainder of the convoy arrived at Naples two days later , and " Thurston " disembarked the Canadians . She then moved to Palermo to pick up elements of the American 1st Armored Division for passage to Scotland . After a week at Gourock , the transport got underway for the United States on the last day of November and reached New York on 9 December 1943 . Operation Overlord . " Thurston " carried troops from New York to Liverpool in January 1944 ; to Gourock in February ; and to Cardiff , Wales , in April . When the ship finished unloading at Cardiff on 4 April , she proceeded to Loch Long for three weeks of landing exercises to prepare for Operation Overlord , the invasion of Hitler ' s " Fortress Europe . " She anchored at Portland , England , on the 29th and sustained minor damage there on 28 May when a German bomb exploded 30 yards off her port side . In the evening of 5 June , " Thurston " began the channel crossing to Normandy with Assault Group O - 3 . At 0333 the next morning , she was anchored about 10 miles off the Omaha beach es and landed her troops on schedule at H - hour . She lost three of her boats in the initial assault wave and two in the 2nd wave . That evening , the transport left the area and returned to Portland the next morning to remain " on - call " until the 19th . Operation Dragoon . On 4 July , " Thurston " got underway and proceeded , via Oran , to Naples with a load of lorries and M4 tank s . After unloading on the 17th , she remained at Naples until 13 August , when — loaded with assault troops — she sortied with the Assault Group of TF 84 ( Alpha Force ) for Operation Dragoon , the invasion of southern France . She was off Baie de Pampelonne , France , on the morning of the 15th and launched the assault wave , which went ashore with little opposition . The next morning , she got underway for Oran . Late in September , the transport loaded French troops and landed them at Lardier on the 30th . She then operated in resupply convoys from North Africa and Italy to the beaches until 25 October when she joined a convoy headed to the United States . Transfer to the Pacific . The ship arrived at New York on 6 November and began an overhaul that lasted until 19 December . She called at Norfolk , Virginia the next day and got underway for the Pacific on the 21st . She transited the Panama Canal on 27 December 1944 and arrived at San Francisco on 5 January 1945 . There , the transport loaded passengers and cargo and headed for Hawaii . She reached Pearl Harbor on the 22nd ; debarked the passengers ; embarked garrison troops ; and proceeded via Eniwetok to the Marianas . Invasion of Iwo Jima . The transport was at Saipan from 11 to 16 February , whence she sortied with Transport Group Able of the Attack Force for the assault against Iwo Jima . " Thurston " remained off the Iwo beaches from 19 to 26 February before she was finally ordered to land her troops . She finished unloading cargo the next day and headed back toward the Marianas . She arrived at Saipan on 2 March , called at Guam the next day to off - load 33 battle casualties , and then proceeded to the Solomons . Invasion of Okinawa . " Thurston " called at Tulagi on the 12th and continued to Espiritu Santo to load elements of the Army ' s 27th Infantry Division . From there , her itinerary took her via Ulithi , to Okinawa . The ship debarked her troops at the Hagushi Beaches on 9 April and , five days later , headed for the Marianas , whence she was routed , via Ulithi and Manus , to New Caledonia . She embarked 917 homeward - bound passengers and battle casualties at Nouméa on 11 May and debarked them at San Francisco on 26 May . After hostilities . " Thurston " took on Army troops on 9 June and proceeded , via Eniwetok and Ulithi , to the Philippines . She arrived at Manila on 8 July , discharged her troops and cargo there , moved to Tacloban , and embarked homeward - bound naval personnel . The transport called at Ulithi to pick up more sailors and , as the war ended , anchored at San Francisco on 14 August . On the 25th , the ship began a voyage to the Philippines with more Army troops and arrived at Manila on 15 September . There , the ship was assigned to Operation " Magic Carpet " duty , returning servicemen home from overseas . Minor postwar engagement . " Thurston " was next ordered to the Solomons . On 4 October , while en route to Guadalcanal , she sighted a 28 - foot dory , which showed no sign of life . However , a blanket in the forward cockpit aroused suspicion of the deck officer , who sent a landing craft to see if anyone was on board . The LCVP circled the dory at very close range before moving alongside . As the boat officer stepped aboard the dory , three Japanese armed with grenade s in both hands emerged from under the blanket and hurled them at the officer and the boat . The boat officer tumbled overboard and the boat crew abandoned the LCVP over the " off - side " before the grenades exploded . A second LCVP with a fully armed crew was launched to rescue the crew of the first boat . As soon as they were picked up , " Thurston " opened fire with her machine guns and finally sank the dory with a 3 - inch shell . The boat crew suffered no casualties , and the LCVP was recovered . Final transport missions . The ship then called at Guadalcanal , Espiritu Santo , New Caledonia , and arrived at Seattle on the 30th . The transport made three more " Magic - Carpet " voyages : to the Philippines in December 1945 and in March 1946 , and to Okinawa and Japan in May . When she arrived at San Francisco on 20 June , she began preparations for inactivation . Decommission . " Thurston " was decommissioned and returned to the War Shipping Administration on 1 August 1946 and resumed the name " Del Santos " . She was struck from the Navy List on 28 August 1946 . Commercial service . " Del Santos " was sold to the Waterman Steamship Company in 1948 . The following year , she was renamed " Chickasaw " . She remained in merchant service as " Chickasaw " until 7 February 1962 when she ran aground on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of California . Awards . " Thurston " received seven battle star s for her World War II service .