USS General C . C . Ballou ( AP - 157 ) USS " General C . C . Ballou " ( AP - 157 ) was a for the U . S . Navy in World War II . She was named in honor of U . S . Army general Charles Clarendon Ballou . She was transferred to the U . S . Army as USAT " General C . C . Ballou " in 1946 . On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) as USNS " General C . C . Ballou " ( T - AP - 157 ) . She was later sold for commercial operation under several names before being scrapped some time after 1981 . Operational history . " General C . C . Ballou " , ( AP - 157 ) was launched 7 March 1945 under Maritime Commission contract ( MC # 714 ) by Kaiser Co . , Inc . , Yard 3 , Richmond , California ; sponsored by Mrs . Harry J . Bernat ; acquired by the Navy 20 May 1945 ; and commissioned 30 June 1945 , Comdr . M . D . MacGregor in command . Following shakedown off San Diego , " General C . C . Ballou " departed San Pedro 29 July 1945 for France via the Panama Canal . She arrived Marseilles after the Japanese surrender , and sailed with returning veterans 23 August bound for Hampton Roads . Then after two round - trip voyages to India and back to New York with returning soldiers and sailors , the ship sailed 13 January 1946 for a voyage that was to take her around the world visiting Calcutta , Manila , and other ports before mooring at San Francisco 8 March with over 3 , 000 troops . " General C . C . Ballou " completed her voyage by transiting the Panama Canal , arriving New York via San Juan , Puerto Rico 1 May . The transport decommissioned at Hoboken , New Jersey , 17 May , was returned to the Maritime Commission , and eventually served as a transport for Army Transportation Service . On 5 April 1949 , USAT " General C . C . Ballou " departed Naples with 859 displaced person s from Europe for resettlement in Australia arriving 29 April 1949 at Melbourne . She completed another voyage to Sydney on 23 March 1950 with 1266 more refugees . " General C . C . Ballou " was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950 for MSTS and for nearly 2 years sailed between Europe and the United States with refugees . Beginning in 1952 the ship began transporting troops from the West Coast to Korea to serve in the Korean War . Following the armistice , " General C . C . Ballou " continued to sail to Japan and Korea on troop rotation duty . She was placed out of service in September 1954 and placed in reserve at Orange , Texas . Later delivered to the Maritime Commission National Defense Reserve Fleet at Beaumont , Texas , she was struck from the Navy List 1 July 1960 , and remained in reserve until sold for commercial use in 1968 to Sea - Land Service , Inc . of Wilmington , Delaware . She was rebuilt as an 11 , 369 gross ton container ship by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Ship Repair Yard in Hoboken , New Jersey after being gutted by the Alabama Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . and renamed " Brooklyn " . The Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Authority purchased her in 1975 and renamed her " Humacao " . Eastern Star Maritime Ltd . of Panama renamed her " Eastern Light " when it purchased her in 1981 . " Eastern Light " left Kobe , Japan on 24 December 1981 to steam to Kaohsiung , Taiwan where she was scrapped . " General C . C . Ballou " received five battle star s for Korean War service . References . This ship was also used to transport troops from New York City to Bremerhaven , Germany during the Berlin Airlift in November 1948 . ( I as an USAF Sergeant was aboard that ship and have pictures on the boat deck with the name of the ship in the background )