USS Napa ( APA - 157 ) USS " Napa " ( APA - 157 ) was a of the United States Navy . The ship was laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MCV hull 123 ) on 7 June 1944 by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation , of Portland , Oregon ; launched on August 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Cranston Williams ; acquired from the Maritime Commission on a loan - charter basis and commissioned on 1 October 1944 , Captain Francis J . Firth in command . Service history . Following shakedown exercises off the California coast , " Napa " took on Seabee units at Port Hueneme and sailed , on 25 November , for Hawaii on the first leg of her westward journey to the combat area in the Western Pacific . Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 December , she was assigned to Transport Division 44 , Amphibious Forces , Pacific Fleet , and for the next month trained with units of the 4th Marine Division preparing for the invasion of Iwo Jima . On 27 January 1945 , the attack transport got underway as part of TF 51 . From 11 February through the 15th , she underwent further training at Tinian , departing on the 16th for the Volcano Islands . Eight miles off Iwo Jima by dawn on the 19th , " Napa " commenced lowering her boats at 0641 , thus allowing sufficient time for the landing craft to cover the distance to the Blue Beaches on the southeastern coast of the island for H - hour , 0900 . The first waves , in LVT ' s , went ashore on schedule , but were slowed down at the first volcanic terrace . Without protection , the marines were vulnerable to fire from Japanese pillboxes , and gun and mortar positions on higher ground to the north of the beaches . The fire from those positions , which could be knocked out only by a direct hit , soon began to take its toll and the attack transports began to move in to receive the wounded . By noon , " Napa " had proceeded from the line of departure to take on casualties . Retiring that night , she returned early the next morning to continue debarking troops and cargo and to take on wounded personnel . Returning again on the morning of the 21st , she was rammed by at about 0445 . The resulting hole in her hull , frames 98 – 102 , was 15 feet long and extended down to a point 10 feet beyond the turn of the bilge . Fast action on the part of the crew and the remaining Marine personnel , waiting for debarkation , precluded casualties even among the evacuees ; limited flooding to No . 4 hold , and prevented any fires from breaking out in that hold which contained high octane gas . After assuring the water - tightness of the remaining holds , the " Victory " ship resumed her duties , remaining in the Iwo Jima area until the 24th . She then departed for Guam where repairs were started . On 25 March she continued to Pearl Harbor , arriving early the next month . There , Capt . F . Kent Loomis took command of the ship on 14 April . A month later , " Napa " got underway for Seattle , whence she sailed , on 20 June , for Okinawa with Army units embarked . She arrived at Machinato Anchorage on 5 August , discharged her cargo and passengers , and started back across the Pacific , reaching Saipan on 14 August to receive the word of the Japanese surrender and orders to the Philippines . Arriving in the Philippines in mid - September , she commenced transporting occupation troops to the Japanese home islands and former territories . After lifting elements of the 8th Army to Yokohama and 6th Marine Division personnel to Tsingtao , she sailed to French Indochina to ferry units of the 62nd Chinese Army from Hai Phong to Takao , Formosa . On 24 November she reported to ComPhilSeaFron for " Magic Carpet " duty , departing on the 27th for California with Army personnel on board . Anchoring in San Francisco Bay , on 16 December , she got underway again for China , on 4 January 1946 , returning to the United States on 24 February . On 1 March she departed San Diego for the east coast . She arrived at Norfolk on the 16th and decommissioned at Baltimore on 24 May . She was returned to the Maritime Commission on 30 May and was laid up as part of the MARAD Reserve Fleet at James River , Virginia , where she remained until 17 September 1983 when she was sold for scrap . " Napa " ( APA – 157 ) received one battle star for her service during World War II .