USS Pierce ( APA - 50 ) USS " Pierce " ( APA - 50 ) was an that served with the US Navy during World War II . " Pierce " ( APA - 50 ) was laid down as Northern Light ( MC hull 289 ) by Moore Dry Dock of Oakland , California 22 July 1942 ; launched 10 October 1942 ; and commissioned 30 June 1943 , Comdr . A . R . Ponto in command . World War II . After a brief shakedown period " Pierce " sailed for Hawaii to join the Fifth Amphibious Force , Pacific Fleet . Immediately upon arrival at Pearl Harbor the ship was assigned to a transport division and was given an intensive two weeks of training in amphibious warfare and gunnery . Invasion of Makin . Following a dress rehearsal , " Pierce " sailed as a unit of the task force assigned to capture , occupy and defend the Japanese held island of Makin , Gilbert Islands . Off the western end of Makin 20 November 1943 , " Pierce " made her first assault landing . During the night of the 23rd the Japanese made their final banzai charge . In the early pre - dawn hours of the next morning there was a terrific explosion and huge pillars of flame shot skyward as the escort carrier " Liscome Bay " was torpedo ed . With Makin secured , " Pierce " ' s boats and LST s brought back to the ship the ragged , weary assault troops of the 27th Infantry Division . Invasion of Kwajalein . Arriving in Pearl Harbor 2 December the transport discharged her troops and spent the next week overhauling equipment and boats . " Pierce " was occupied for the ensuing five weeks off Maui , T . H . , training some 200 officers and 4000 enlisted men of the Army and Marine Corps in the art of amphibious warfare . Carrying men of the 7th Infantry Division , " Pierce " got underway for Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands 22 January 1944 . Kwajalein ' s capture , following the same pattern as that of Makin only on a much larger scale , was achieved within a week . During the night of 3 February " Pierce " sent five boats to one of the smaller islands to evacuate approximately 150 Army troops trapped by the enemy . Under enemy fire the boats were loaded with troops and returned through the reef to the lagoon . Upon departure from Kwajalein 8 February , " Pierce " went to the Naval Repair Base , San Diego , California for overhaul . Invasion of Saipan . On 14 March she commenced the training of three landing teams of the 81st Infantry Division , totaling some 200 officers and 4 , 000 enlisted men . This training took place at Coronado Strand , San Clemente Island and Aliso Canyon , California , and consumed the next six weeks . Once again , 1 May , she sailed for Pearl Harbor , this time to exercise a battalion landing team of the 4th Marines in preparation for the pending operation . All preparations being completed , the ship stood out of Pearl Harbor 29 May and joined other units of a task force en route to Saipan , Marianas Islands . " Pierce " , as a combat loaded assault transport , was a unit of the Northern Attack Group and was assigned the mission of landing assault troops and equipment in the vicinity of Charan - Kanoa , Saipan . " Pierce " completed the unloading of all assault troops and their equipment 15 June . Enemy activity lessened after two hours and " Pierce " was ordered to close the reef to receive casualties and discharge cargo . Engagement with enemy ground forces . After retiring for the night the ship returned to Saipan and stood in to the line of departure south of Charan - Kanoa to receive casualties , which were taken on board until the sick bay facilities were taxed to the utmost . Two hundred forty - nine casualties were received aboard in less than three hours . That afternoon " Pierce " fired forty - eight rounds of 5 - inch projectiles , silencing two mortar positions in the hills . Air attacks and transfer of casualties . On the next day , 17 June , Army artillery aboard was dispatched ashore . At sunset " Pierce " underwent the usual two hour air attack . Due to the proximity of the Japanese fleet she retired to the northeast of Saipan leaving an imposing force of U . S . heavy ships between herself and the enemy fleet . She returned to Saipan on Friday of that week and by Saturday had completed unloading and transferring casualties to two hospital ships . That evening she departed for Eniwetok amidst an air attack . After standing by on call for a week she reached Pearl Harbor 20 July . Invasion of Palaus . For the next three weeks " Pierce " made repairs , trained troops of the 81st Infantry Division , and enjoyed a brief breather from forward area activities . On 12 August " Pierce " sailed with a task force to Guadalcanal , which was reached the 24th . After two rehearsals at Guadalcanal she departed for the assault on Angaur in the Palau Islands . In the Palau Islands on the morning of 15 September , while the 1st Marine Division landed on the island of Peleliu , " Pierce " in company with the Angaur Attack Force made a diversionary feint along the east coast of Babelthuap Island , keeping out of range of shore batteries . The invasion of Angaur commenced two days later . Upon completion of the unloading " Pierce " went to Manus , Admiralty Islands , which was reached 28 September . Invasion of Leyte . By 8 October personnel of the 1st Cavalry Division were embarked and all equipment loaded . After staging a rehearsal landing the task force of which " Pierce " was a unit sailed 12 October for the initial assault on Leyte in the Philippines . She reached Leyte Island on the morning of 20 October after passing through enemy mine fields in Surigao Straits . Movement to the objective was uneventful . Evening found the ship underway standing out through mine field s to the open sea . On 23 October she was anchored in Kossol Passage , Palau Islands with several hundred miles separating her from the Japanese fleets converging on Leyte Gulf . On 28 October the ship began a long tour of Pacific outposts , stopping first at Guam , Marianas to load personnel and equipment of the 77th Infantry Division and sailing from there to Nouméa , New Caledonia . Orders were changed en route on 11 November and she headed west to Manus . Enemy aircraft kills . Two days later " Pierce " set sail for Leyte . She was quietly unloading the ship on 24 November off Taraguna , Leyte when three enemy planes attacked and were shot down . The emptied " Pierce " sailed that day to Hollandia , New Guinea , which was reach ed 29 November . There followed two weeks of repairs and rest in Hollandia , after which " Pierce " departed for Sansapor , New Guinea . At that base she loaded personnel and equipment of the 6th Infantry Division , practiced landing operations and spent Christmas . Early on 30 December " Pierce " shot down one enemy plane . Invasion of Luzon . That afternoon she sailed from Sansapor with a task group bound for the initial assault on Luzon , Philippine Islands , at Lingayen Gulf . The trip was not without excitement as each dawn and dusk brought enemy planes over the disposition , but no hits were scored on " Pierce " . " Pierce " suffers casualties . With the exception of one group of enemy planes the approach into Lingayen Gulf on the morning of 9 January 1945 went off without interference . Unloading was progressing nicely when an enemy plane came out of the sun unobserved and attempted to glide bomb " Pierce " , but he let loose his bomb too soon and it fell abreast the port side of No . 5 hatch , demolishing one of the ship ' s boats lying nearby and killing two men . Uneventful landing . Next the ship loaded personnel and equipment of the 38th Army Division , conducted a rehearsal landing and sailed again for Luzon , this time to take part in the initial assault on beaches near the town of LaPaz , north of Subic Bay . The whole operation was pleasantly uneventful , and instead of enemy opposition at the beachhead only friendly natives were present . She returned to Leyte for repairs and spent most of February unloading merchant ships . Invasion of Okinawa . Personnel and equipment of the 7th Infantry Division were loaded by 10 March . After the usual rehearsal " Pierce " departed Leyte with a task group amidst high seas and headed for Okinawa Jima , Nansei Shoto . Except for aircraft which appeared in the vicinity only to be promptly shot down , the trip was uneventful . " Pierce " stood into the transport area off Okinawa on the morning of 1 April . As the ship was retiring for the night Japanese planes got through the combat air patrol , one kamikaze crashing into a transport about 800 yards on " Pierce " ' s starboard beam . On the following day the ship continued unloading , then retired for the night and completed unloading the next day . On 5 April " Pierce " was ordered to sail with other unloaded transports to Guam , whence she continued on to California . After hostilities . During the next ten weeks the ship was overhauled in San Francisco . " Pierce " then went to San Diego for refresher training . While the ship was again en route to the war zone , with Eniwetok only a few hundred miles away , the electrifying " cease all offensive operations " message was received 15 August 1945 . Pausing in the Philippines , " Pierce " continued on to the Japanese home islands and to Korea for occupation duty . She returned to San Francisco 13 November , only to put to sea again on the 30th bound for Manila . At Manila 19 – 23 December the transport was loaded with home - bound veterans , then crossed the Pacific to make San Francisco 11 January 1946 . " Pierce " departed 21 January , transited the Panama Canal and arrived at New Orleans 6 February . Decommission . " Pierce " decommissioned at Mobile , Alabama , 11 March 1946 . She was struck from the Navy List 17 April 1946 and delivered to the Maritime Commission for further disposal 2 May 1946 . She was sold to her former owner 28 July 1947 . Awards . " Pierce " received six battle star s for World War II service . Legacy . One of the serving officers on the " USS Pierce " was Kenneth Dodson , a former civilian mariner . After the war he became an author and wrote the novel " Away All Boats " , published by Little Brown & Co . in 1954 . The book was based on his experiences on the ship which he renamed the " Belinda " in the novel . In 1956 the book was made into a movie by Universal Pictures using the same title starring Jeff Chandler , George Nader and a young Richard Boone . Commercial service . " Pierce " was transferred for commercial service on 24 October 1947 to United States Lines , which renamed her " American Planter " . On 13 June 1965 , " American Planter " was returned to the Maritime Administration and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet , James River , Lee Hall , Virginia . On 26 August 1965 , she was chartered to States Marine for MSTS service . She was returned to MARAD and the Reserve Fleet , this time at Suisun Bay , California , on 17 November 1967 . On 3 March 1969 , " American Planter " was purchased for scrapping by National Metal and Steel Corporation of Terminal Island , California . She was transferred from the Reserve Fleet on 25 March and scrapped at Terminal Island in May .