USS Noble ( APA - 218 ) USS " Noble " ( APA - 218 ) was a which saw service with the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War . She was later transferred to the Spanish Navy in the 1960s under a mutual assistance agreement . " Noble " was named after counties in Indiana , Ohio and Oklahoma . She was laid down as MCV hull 566 on 20 July 1944 by Permanente Metals Corporation of Richmond , California as a modified Victory ship ; completed by the Kaiser Shipyard at Richmond ; launched 18 October 1944 ; acquired by the Navy on 27 November 1944 ; and commissioned the same day , Comdr . Solomon S . Isquith in command . Operational history . World War II . " Noble " ' s primary mission was to transport to a combat area the men and some of the material necessary for an assault on an enemy shore . Her main armament , her boat group , was designed to deliver her troops and cargo to the beach in a planned and orderly fashion . After discharging troops and equipment , she could evacuate casualties or prisoners of war . Invasion of Okinawa . In January 1945 , " Noble " steamed westward to participate in the Okinawa campaign . After hostilities . Upon termination of the war , she assisted in the delivery of released allied prisoners of war from Korea to the Philippines . She also participated in Operation Magic Carpet , returning servicemen from the Pacific to the United States . " Noble " was attached to the Atlantic Fleet from 1946 through 1949 , operating out of Norfolk , Virginia . Korean War . " Noble " returned to San Diego 13 September 1949 and was undergoing overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , San Francisco , when war broke out in Korea in June 1950 . In August , she steamed to Korea to participate in the September Inchon amphibious assault . Thereafter , she assisted in the transport of U . S . and foreign troops and equipment to and from the Korean combat zone . In July 1953 , she participated in Operation " Big Switch , " moving Communist North Korean prisoners from Koje Do to Inchon pursuant to the armistice agreement . Peacetime operations . Subsequent to the Korean War , " Noble " conducted training operations in both the eastern and western Pacific areas . In 1955 , she assisted in the evacuation of Chinese civilians and military from the Tachen Islands to Formosa . At the outset of the Cuban missile crisis 27 October 1962 , " Noble " embarked 1 , 400 Marines with their equipment and steamed for the Caribbean in company with other Pacific Fleet amphibious units . She returned to San Diego in December , then deployed to WestPac in March 1963 for a tour with the 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group . Transfer to the Spanish Navy . " Noble " returned to San Diego in December 1963 and conducted upkeep and training operations until she decommissioned 1 July 1964 . She then entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for preparation for transfer to Spain under the Mutual Assistance Program . The transfer ceremony took place 19 December at San Francisco . Renamed attack transport " Aragón " ( TA - 11 ) by the Spanish , the ship served until being laid up and struck from the Spanish Navy Vessel Register on 1 January 1982 . She was sold for scrap in 1987 .