Sumter - class attack transport The " Sumter " - class attack transport was a class of attack transport built for service with the US Navy in World War II . Like all attack transports , the purpose of the " Sumter " s was to transport troops and their equipment to foreign shores in order to execute amphibious invasions using an array of smaller assault boats integral to the attack transport itself . Like all the attack transports , the " Sumter " - class was heavily armed with antiaircraft weaponry to protect itself and its cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone . History . The " Sumter " class ships were based upon the US Maritime Commission ' s Type C2 merchant ship hull - specifically , the C2 - S - E1 type . The class consisted of only four ships - three of them laid down in April 1942 , not long after the US entry into the war , and the remaining ship laid down almost a year later , in March 1943 . All four ships were built by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation , at Chickasaw , Alabama . The first three ships in the class were originally intended to be plain transports , but on 1 February 1943 they , along with numerous other transports then in service or still on the slipways , were redesignated as attack transports . This entailed fitting extra antiaircraft weaponry , providing the ships with an array of amphibious assault craft and the means to deploy them , and other modifications . The extra work required to upgrade the ships in the class from transports to attack transports was done at either Bethlehem Steel , Maryland Drydock or the Atlantic Basin Iron Works , and delayed their commission by five or six months so that they did not become available for service until August / September 1943 . The fourth ship in the class , the , was designated an attack transport from the outset but still had to go through the same refitting process after being built , which also delayed its commission by about the same length of time . While the four ships of the class were based on the same hull design , they are listed as having somewhat variable troop and cargo capacities and crews . They could carry between 1 , 433 and 1 , 563 troops and had crews of between about 450 and 650 . The first three ships had a cargo capacity limit of 1 , 300 tons , but the last , " Baxter " had a limit of 1 , 450 tons . In service . The four ships of the class served exclusively in the Pacific Theatre . The first three arrived in time to participate in much of the American island hopping campaign across the Pacific to its final destination of Japan . Consequently , they had no shortage of action - in particular earning seven battle star s . The fourth ship , " Baxter " , was commissioned about twelve months later but still had time to participate in three campaigns and earn three stars . All four ships were struck from the Naval Register shortly after the war in March / April 1946 , and all four went on to have successful careers as commercial cargo vessels . " Baxter " , renamed " La Salle " was the first to be scrapped , in 1968 . The other three were eventually converted into container ships which prolonged their service by another decade or so , finally being scrapped in 1977 - 78 . The ships thus enjoyed an overall service life of between about 33 to 44 years . References . See the DANFS entries for the individual ships :