USS Missoula ( APA - 211 ) USS " Missoula " ( APA - 211 ) was a " Haskell " - class attack transport built and used by the US Navy in World War II . She was a Victory ship design , VC2 - S - AP5 . She was named after Missoula County , Montana , USA . She was the second ship to bear the name . World War II service . " Missoula " was laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Permanente Metals Corp . , Yard No . 2 , Richmond , California , 20 June 1944 ; launched 6 September 1944 ; sponsored by the Harmonettes , a female vocal group ; acquired by the Navy 27 October 1944 ; and commissioned at Richmond , the same day , Commander Alex . C . Kopper in command . After shakedown along the California coast , " Missoula " steamed from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor 6 to 12 December . She trained in Hawaiian waters during the next 6 weeks ; thence , with units of the 5th Marine Division embarked , she sailed 27 January for the scheduled invasion of Iwo Jima . Among her troops she carried the dozen men who on two separate occasions raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during bitter fighting 23 February . Assigned to Transport Squadron 16 , she steamed via Eniwetok to the staging area at Saipan , where she completed final preparations for the invasion . " Missoula " sortied with Rear Adm . Harry W . Hill ’ s TF 53 on 16 February . She reached the transport area off Beach Green 1 before dawn 19 February , lowered her landing boats , and at 0725 began debarking troops for the assault . As marines stormed the beaches and began the struggle for Iwo Jima , " Missoula " sent ashore troops and cargo from her position about 3 , 000 yards offshore . Late in the afternoon she departed the transport area for night cruising at sea ; thence , she returned the following morning and resumed unloading operations . During the next 5 days she continued this pattern of operations . While operating in the transport area 23 February , she received the following message at 1035 : “ American flag now flying on Mount Suribachi Yama . ” Marines from the 28th Regiment had raised the colors from the summit at 1020 . That flag , the first of two which flew from Suribachi that day , had come from " Missoula " . The adjutant of the 2d Battalion , 28th Marines , had brought the small set of colors from the attack transport during the invasion . In addition , " Missoula " provided medical facilities for casualties of the fierce fighting ashore . Her four surgical teams treated 100 stretcher and ambulatory cases , 59 of whom were brought on board during the first day . After embarking a final group of casualties , she sailed in convoy for Saipan 25 February . The following morning one of the convoy escorts , , detected , depth - charged , and sank Japanese submarine I ‑ 370 . " Missoula " arrived Saipan 28 February ; and , after debarking the wounded marines , she sailed for the New Hebrides with Transport Squadron 16 on 5 March . Steaming via Tulagi , " Missoula " reached Espiritu Santo 15 March and there embarked 1 , 177 Army troops of the 27th Division . She departed with other transports the 25th , touched at Ulithi 3 April , and arrived off the western beaches of Okinawa 9 April . During the next 5 days she discharged men and supplies and embarked 143 casualties of the Okinawa campaign ; thence , between 14 and 18 April she steamed to Saipan . For much of the next month " Missoula " operated out of Ulithi after which she headed for troop training exercises in the Philippines . She arrived Subic Bay , Luzon , 31 May , and during the closing weeks of the war against Japan , she took part in preparing Army troops for a possible amphibious invasion of Japan . Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the Japanese ended hostilities 15 August ; thence , Missoula supported the movement of occupation troops into Japan . As part of TF 33 , " Missoula " departed Subic Bay 27 August . She entered Tokyo Bay on the morning of 2 September and began debarking troops of the 1st Cavalry Division at 0951 . Less than an hour before in another part of the bay , the Japanese Foreign Minister , Mamoru Shigemitsu , had signed the Instrument of Surrender on board , thus officially ending World War II . " Missoula " returned to the Philippines 4 to 11 September and embarked additional occupation troops at Zamboanga and Mindanao . Departing Leyte Gulf 22 September , she arrived Okinawa the 25th and on 3 October sailed for the Inland Sea . Between 6 and 11 October she debarked troops for the occupation of the rubble that was once Hiroshima . She returned to Okinawa 13 October and joined in the mighty task of returning veterans ( Operation Magic Carpet ) of the Pacific campaigns to the United States . With 1 , 923 troops embarked , " Missoula " sailed the 17th and arrived San Francisco 1 November . She departed on a second “ Magic Carpet ” run 21 November and on 6 December embarked 2 , 060 soldiers at Okinawa . She steamed to Tacoma , Washington , 8 to 21 December ; thence , she returned to the western Pacific 21 January 1946 for further trooplift duty . She carried 692 men of the 2d Marine Air Wing from Okinawa to Yokosuka early in February , embarked more than 2 , 000 veterans at Okinawa and Guam later that month , and departed Guam for the west coast the 22d . " Missoula " reached San Francisco 5 March , discharged her passengers , and completed her “ Magic Carpet ” duty . Assigned to the 19th Fleet 9 April , " Missoula " operated in the San Francisco Bay area during the next 5 months . Fate . She decommissioned at Port Chicago , California , 13 September 1946 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island . Her name was struck from the Navy list 1 October 1958 . She transferred to the Maritime Administration the same day and was assigned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet . She was berthed in Suisun Bay , California on 29 October 1958 . On 5 March 1977 she was sold to American Ship Dismantlers , Inc . , for US $ 218 , 001 , to be scrapped . At 1115 PDT , on 8 March 1975 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and sent to the breaker ' s yard . Awards . " Missoula " received two battle star s for World War II service .