USS Burleson ( APA - 67 ) USS " Burleson " ( APA - 67 ) , a " Gilliam " - class attack transport , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Burleson County , Texas . Her keel was laid down on 22 April 1944 at Wilmington , California , by the Consolidated Steel Corporation under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1860 ) . She was launched on 11 July 1944 sponsored by Mrs . Darryl F . Zanuck , delivered to the Navy on 7 November 1944 , and commissioned on 8 November 1944 with Lieutenant Commander B . Hartley , USNR , in command . The ship was named after a county in east central Texas about 60 miles due east of Austin . Following shakedown training out of San Diego , California , and post - shakedown repairs at Terminal Island , the attack transport got underway for the southwestern Pacific on 17 January 1945 . She stopped at Tillotson Cove in the Russell Islands from 3 February to 11 February . On the latter day , she moved over to Guadalcanal . " Burleson " operated at various locations in the Guadalcanal – Tulagi area conducting amphibious training until mid - March . On 15 March , the ship set a course for Ulithi Atoll . She spent the period 21 March to 27 March at anchor in Ulithi lagoon and , on the latter day , got underway in convoy bound for the Ryukyu Islands . " Burleson " entered the transport area off Okinawa on the morning of 1 April 1945 , the day of the initial assault , but she did not begin unloading until the following day . Those operations continued until 7 April when she put to sea bound for Guam . The attack transport spent the night of 11 April and 12 April at Apra Harbor , Guam , and then resumed her voyage . She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 23 April . " Burleson " remained in the Hawaiian Islands for two months . She conducted several amphibious training exercises at Maui and underwent repairs at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard . On 25 June , the ship got underway from Pearl Harbor on her way back to the western Pacific . After stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi , the attack transport arrived back at Okinawa on 5 August . She unloaded her cargo and disembarked her passengers at Buckner Bay . " Burleson " stayed at Okinawa beyond the end of hostilities on 15 August and through the end of August . On 5 September , she got underway for the Asian mainland . " Burleson " arrived at Jinsen , Korea , on 8 September and began disembarking troops assigned to military government units . On 13 September , she returned to Okinawa and operated in the Ryukyu Islands until 26 September . On that day , she departed Okinawa with elements of the First Marine Division embarked . The attack transport reached Taku , China , on 30 September and spent the next five days disembarking troops and unloading cargo . She continued to perform duty in support of occupation forces until November when she returned to Pearl Harbor with a complement of troops returning home . In December , she was assigned to the 14th Naval District temporarily to undergo modifications preparatory to her participation in Operation Crossroads , nuclear tests scheduled for the following summer at Bikini Atoll . In June 1946 , " Burleson " moved from Pearl Harbor to Bikini carrying animals to be used in the two nuclear tests . She observed both tests and moved into the test area after each to remove the animals for study . At the end of the summer of 1946 , " Burleson " sailed to the East Coast of the United States . She reported for duty at the Naval Amphibious Base , Little Creek , Virginia , where she was decommissioned on 9 November 1946 . That event , however , did not end her service . She was retained in an " in reserve , in service " status as a cargo - handling training ship at Little Creek , Virginia . On 5 October 1956 " Burleson " was redesignated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel IX - 67 . She continued to serve as a training ship at Little Creek until her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1968 . On 20 November 1968 , she was sold to the North American Smelting Company for scrapping . " Burleson " received one battle star for her World War II service .