USS Buckingham ( APA - 141 ) USS " Buckingham " ( APA - 141 ) was a " Haskell " - class attack transport acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War II for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas . " Buckingham " ( " APA 141 " ) was laid down on 9 September 1944 at Wilmington , California , by the California Shipbuilding Corp . under a Maritime Commission contract ( MCV hull 57 ) ; launched on 13 November 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . S . J . Dickey ; towed to Vancouver , Washington , for completion by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co . ; transferred to the Navy on 23 January 1945 ; and commissioned that same day , Capt . Henry G . Moran in command . World War II service . The attack transport conducted shakedown training off San Pedro , California , in February 1945 and then sailed to San Diego , California , for amphibious warfare training . She made numerous practice landings on beaches at Coronado , San Clemente , and Oceanside , California . Minor repairs of defects discovered during shakedown were corrected at Todd Shipyard in San Pedro . " Buckingham " then reported to the Commander , Western Sea Frontier , at San Francisco , California , for her first assignment , transportation of a cargo of ammunition and explosives to Pearl Harbor . Sailing into the Pacific War zone . After loading her cargo at Port Chicago , California , the attack transport departed San Francisco Bay on 3 April and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 April . She waited at anchor there for nearly a week before putting to sea with a training group to practice fleet cruising , shiphandling , and amphibious landings at Maui . The ship returned to Pearl Harbor on the 28th , took on cargo , and embarked Army and Marine Corps troops for transportation to the Mariana Islands . The attack transport sailed out of Pearl Harbor on 4 May in company with , , " SS Sea Sturgeon " , and " SS Evangeline " . The convoy stopped at Eniwetok on 12 May for sailing directions , and " Clinton " and " Buckingham " , escorted by , journeyed on to Guam . After discharging passengers there , the attack transport steamed eight hours northward to Saipan . Once again passengers disembarked , and new passengers , bound for Pearl Harbor , came on board . On 25 May , " Buckingham " sailed for Eniwetok and Hawaii , and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 4 June . Three days later the attack transport headed for San Francisco with a lighter load of passengers for repair of a split boiler . Its speed was limited to 7 knots and it was accompanied by one destroyer escort . End - of - war operations . When " Buckingham " departed the United States on 28 June , she began a voyage that took her — via Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok , and Ulithi — to the Philippines and back to San Francisco , where she arrived on 17 August . News of the war ' s end reached the ship while she was still at sea , but she still had one more job to do . She hurriedly took on troops and cargo for passage to Pearl Harbor , continued on to Saipan and , on 22 September , steamed for Wakayama , Japan — carrying occupation forces — and landed her troops and cargo on Japanese soil on 27 September . Post - war operations . The attack transport operated as part of the " Operation Magic Carpet " fleet on her return trip to San Francisco , carrying home over 1 , 800 veterans . In November , " Buckingham " made one more trip to Japan carrying occupation troops . She discharged some of her passengers at Sasebo on 25 November and proceeded to Nagasaki to disembark the rest . After embarking more than 1 , 500 returning servicemen , " Buckingham " crossed the Pacific Ocean for the last time . Post - war decommissioning . Scheduled for inactivation , the ship made the long voyage to Norfolk , Virginia , early in 1946 . She was decommissioned there on 1 March 1946 and was returned to the Maritime Commission on 5 March 1946 . Her name struck from the Navy list on 20 March 1946 . Placed in the Maritime Commission ' s National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River , Virginia , she remained there until January 1974 when she was sold to Consolidated Steel Corp . , Brownsville , Texas , for scrapping .