USS Neville ( APA - 9 ) USS " Neville " ( APA - 9 ) was a in the United States Navy . She was named for Wendell Cushing Neville , a general in the United States Marine Corps . Service history . " Neville " was built originally as the three - mast , screw steamer USS " Independence " in 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation , Alameda , California , for the United States Shipping Board . She was commissioned on 18 November 1918 . After World War I service , she decommissioned on 20 March 1919 and was returned to the USSB for US Merchant Marine service . Rebuilt and renamed " City of Norfolk " in 1930 , she was run by the Baltimore Mail Steamship Company until reacquired by the Navy on 14 December 1940 . Converted by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works , Portland , Oregon , she recommissioned as " Neville " ( AP - 16 ) , on 14 May 1941 , Captain C . A . Bailey in command . 1941 - 1942 . On 18 June 1941 , " Neville " reported for duty with the Atlantic Fleet and for the remaining days of quasi - peace in 1941 transported military and naval personnel to various points along the East Coast and in the Caribbean . On 7 December 1941 she was at San Juan , en route from Trinidad to New York . Within the month , however , she was conducting landing exercises with Army units along the Virginia coast . Detached from that duty in mid - February , she embarked Army and Navy personnel and equipment and departed the East Coast , on 19 February 1942 , on the first trans - oceanic run of her second world war . She completed the round - trip voyage to Belfast , on 25 March , at New York , disembarked RAF , RCAF , and British Merchant Navy personnel , and then continued on to Norfolk for voyage repairs . At the same time , she received 20 mm guns and more modern landing craft for use in her new operational territory , the Pacific . " Neville " departed Hampton Roads , on 10 April , and steaming south with TF 38 , transited the Panama Canal , on the 18th , becoming a unit of TransDiv 8 , ServRon 4 , Pacific Fleet . Anchoring in Fanui Bay , Bora Bora , on 4 May , she discharged her Army and Seabee passengers and proceeded on to Wellington , New Zealand , where she remained until 22 July . Then , with units of the 1st Marine Division embarked , she headed toward the Fiji Islands to rendezvous with other Allied vessels assigned to " Operation Watchtower " , the assaults on Tulagi and Guadalcanal . At 0630 , on 7 August , " Neville " arrived in her assigned transport area off beach " Blue " on Tulagi . Seven minutes later she lowered her boats and Raider groups were dispatched . At 0730 Marine Combat Team 2 was debarked into landing boats which put them ashore soon after " H - hour " , 0800 . Despite increasingly stiff opposition , all assigned waves had been landed by 1012 . By 1320 , aerial resistance , in the form of bombers and fighters , had been added to the well developed Japanese defenses in the Tulagi - Gavutu - Tanambogo area . The long battle for the Solomons had begun . " Neville " remained in the area through the 9th , witnessing , from a distance , the devastation wrought off Savo Island on that date . On the 13th , she arrived at Nouméa , New Caledonia , whence she continued on to Wellington to take on reinforcements . Returning to the combat area on 26 October , she participated in the landings at Aola Bay on 4 November , and then departed to take up transport duties in the New Caledonia - New Hebrides area . At the end of the month , she again returned to Guadalcanal , discharged supplies and reinforcements , took on personnel to be evacuated , and headed south east . After stopping at Espiritu Santo to disembark her evacuees , she proceeded to San Diego , arriving on 4 January 1943 for availability . 1943 . On 14 February , " Neville " , now redesignated APA - 9 ( effective 1 February ) , stood out from San Diego en route back to the Atlantic . She arrived at Norfolk on 10 March , and after amphibious training in the Chesapeake Bay area , sailed on 8 June for North Africa to prepare for the Sicilian invasion . By 10 July she was off Scoglitti with " Cent " Force as it landed Army units on either side of that fishing town . Assigned to the Northern Group , " Neville " s boats delivered units of the 45th " Thunderbird " Division to " Red " beach , near the mouth of the Acate River , at 0434 . Despite being the last group to get away from their transport , heavy surf , and indefinite landmarks , they were the first to touch down on the beach . With the last wave in by 0640 , the task of discharging cargo was begun . On the afternoon of the 12th , the APA departed the assault area and returned to Oran , whence she sailed , on the 22nd , for the United States . " Neville " arrived at Newport News , Virginia , 3 August , only to depart again on the 23rd , once more assigned to the Pacific . By the end of September she was engaged in intensive landing exercises in the Hawaiian Islands . On 10 November she stood out of Honolulu and sailed for the Gilberts with troops of the 27th Division and a platoon of Marine Raiders , 5th Amphibious Corps , embarked . On the morning of 20 November , Marine and Army units were landed on Tarawa and Makin . At 0642 " Neville " dispatched her Marines to secure Katubam but kept her Army units on board for later landings on the lagoon side of Butaritari . By 1015 the first of eight waves had been dispatched , landing on beach " Yellow " at 1040 under an opposing storm of small arms fire . Cargo discharge operations , begun later in the day , continued through the 22nd . On the 23rd , " Neville " departed the transport area only to return the next day to take on survivors from before returning to Pearl Harbor . From Pearl Harbor , the transport steamed to Bremerton , Washington , underwent repairs , and then headed south to San Diego , arriving on 31 December . 1944 . With the new year , 1944 , " Neville " received new landing craft , fresh boat crews , and orders to join Trans Div 30 at Pearl Harbor . She arrived in Hawaii on 9 January , again took on units of the 27th Division , and on the 23rd got underway , with TG 51 . 1 , the Kwajalein Attack Force Reserve Group . " Neville " sighted Kwajalein on the 31st , but maneuvered east of the Atoll until entering the lagoon on 2 February . There she engaged in debarkation drills in preparation for the assault on Eniwetok . On 11 February , the uncommitted Kwajalein Reserve Group was dissolved and reformed as the Eniwetok Expeditionary Group . Four days later the group , TG 51 . 11 , sortied from Kwajalein . On the 17th , " Neville " entered Eniwetok lagoon and prepared to land her troops on the main objective , Engebi , the following morning . The first waves hit the beaches at 0844 . " Neville ' s " boats , used on the 17th and on the morning of the 18th , were not called on to transport her own passengers to the beaches until after the vessel had shifted to Transport Area 3 . Then , at 1609 , troops were debarked for landings on Eniwetok Island . For the next three days , she remained off Eniwetok , sending supplies to the beaches and taking on casualties . On the 23rd , she shifted to the Parry Island transport area , where she remained for four days . APA – 9 then got underway for Kwajalein , Pearl Harbor , and , ultimately , San Francisco . On 8 April , she returned to Hawaii to conduct amphibious training exercises with Marine personnel in preparation for " Operation Forager " , the push into the Marianas . Assigned in May to TransDiv 10 , " Neville " departed Honolulu on 30 May , and steamed west with TF 52 . Soon after 0630 on 15 June , she was in her assigned transport area , off Saipan . By 0700 her boats had departed for a demonstration feint off Mutcho Point , Garapan . Her boats reloaded in mid - morning , she shifted to the Charan Kanoa transport area . At 1103 she received orders to send her troops in to beach " Green Two " . The first boats shoved off for the departure line at 1135 and by 1340 the job was completed . From the 15th until the 18th , the transport retired each night to positions just off the islands of Saipan and Tinian . From the 19th to the 21st , as the Battle of the Philippine Sea raged , she cruised 75 – 100 miles east - northeast of Saipan , then returned to complete off - loading cargo at Saipan . On the 23rd , she turned her bow toward Eniwetok , where Japanese POW s were taken on board . Next sailing to Kwajalein , she embarked ambulatory casualties , and on 5 July joined a convoy headed for Pearl Harbor . There , on 13 July , she delivered her prisoners , and the next day continued her voyage , arriving at San Diego on the 21st . 1945 . On her arrival at San Diego , " Neville " was assigned to TU 13 . 1 . 1 , TransDiv 1 , then conducting amphibious training exercises for assault troops . From 3 January 1945 until 15 August , she operated as a training ship for APA crews , and then , after the cessation of hostilities , resumed duties as a transport to ferry fresh troops to former Japanese islands in the South Pacific and bring home veterans . Post war . On 15 January 1946 , the World War I transport departed California for the last time . Steaming to the East Coast , she arrived at Boston on 5 February to begin inactivation , decommissioning on 30 April . Transferred to War Shipping Administration on 16 July , she was struck from the Navy List on 15 August 1946 , and scrapped in 1957 . Awards . " Neville " received 5 battle star s for her World War II service .