USS West Corum ( ID - 3982 ) USS " West Corum " ( ID - 3982 ) was a cargo ship for the United States Navy in 1919 . The ship was built as SS " West Corum and reverted to that name at the end of her Navy service . During World War II , the ship was United States Army transport ship USAT " West Corum , later renamed to Will H . Point ( sometimes listed as William H . Point ) . SS " West Corum " was a steam - powered ship built for the as part of the " West " boats , a series of steel - hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort . She was the 13th ship built by Columbia River Shipbuilding Company in Portland , Oregon . She was commissioned into the of the United States Navy in January 1919 . After one overseas trips for the Navy , she was decommissioned in May 1919 and returned to the . Early in her civilian career , she sailed between New York City and Bordeaux , but later shifted to sailing to Antwerp . For most of the 1920s , " West Corum " sailed to Argentine ports . By 1939 , " West Corum " had been laid up in New Orleans . In 1940 , she was reconditioned , transferred to the United States Army , and renamed USAT " Will H . Point " . During World War II , the ship sailed primarily in the Pacific Ocean , calling at ports in Australia , Alaska , and the U . S . West Coast . " Will H . Point " was laid up in the reserve fleet in Astoria , Oregon , in January 1947 and sold for scrapping in July of that same year . U . S . Navy career . Upon completion of " West Corum " in February 1919 , three months after the end of fighting in World War I , she was handed over to the United States Navy for use in the on 10 February . She was commissioned as USS " West Corum " ( ID - 3982 ) the same day with Lieutenant Commander Alfred G . Thompson , USNRF , in command . " West Corum " took on a load of wheat flour and sailed on 24 February for the East Coast . After transiting the Panama Canal , she arrived at Norfolk , Virginia , on 19 March . Sailing soon after , she headed for Constantinople , Turkey , where she delivered her cargo on 18 April . On 1 May , " West Corum " set out from Constantinople for the United States via Gibraltar . She arrived in Norfolk on 6 June and was decommissioned three days later and returned to the . Civilian career . Many details of " West Corum " s post - Navy career are unknown , but mentions in shipping reports in contemporary newspapers offer hints at her activities . " The New York Times " reports on " West Corum " s impending arrival from Bordeaux in October 1919 , and from Antwerp in May and August 1920 . By November 1920 , " West Corum " had apparently begun sailing to Argentine ports . Most newspaper mentions of " West Corum " do not report what sorts of cargo she carried , but a January 1922 Associated Press story in " The Christian Science Monitor " reveals her cargo for one voyage from Argentina . In what the news item said was the first full load of cargo leaving Buenos Aires in nearly a year , " West Corum " carried 107 , 000 animal hides , estimated to be enough for 1 , 000 , 000 pairs of shoes , along with consignments of wool and linseed . The ship continued calling at Buenos Aires and Santa Fe , Argentina , as late as 1927 , but by 1939 , " West Corum " had been laid up in a reserve fleet at New Orleans . World War II . In June 1940 , the opened bidding for the reconditioning of ten laid up cargo ships , which included " West Corum " . According to the " Los Angeles Times " , the , a successor to the , was forced to act because of a " critical shortage " of U . S . Navy auxiliary ship s . Though there is no specific information available regarding " West Corum " , the cost of reconditioning " West Honaker " , another of the laid up " West " boats , was $ 77 , 777 . In November , " West Corum " was one of different group of ten ships taken up by the United States Army for defense service . The ship ' s movements under Army control are largely unknown , but in January 1941 , " The New York Times " reported that USAT " West Corum " had arrived in New York from Puerto Rico . Between February and March 1941 , the ship was renamed USAT " Will H . Point " ( though some sources indicate " William H . Point " instead ) in honor of a former officer in the Quartermaster Corps . Some other destinations for " Will H . Point " during her Army service are known . On 15 June 1941 , the ship became the first ship to dock at the newly completed port facilities at Anchorage , Alaska . From September 1943 to January 1944 , " Will H . Point " sailed between ports in Australia and New Guinea . Sailing mostly in convoys , " Will H . Point " visited Gladstone , Brisbane , Caloundra , Townsville , and Milne Bay . After the war ' s end , " Will H . Point " is listed in the " Chicago Daily Tribune " as returning 11 U . S . Army personnel from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco in July 1946 . The following January , " Will H . Point " entered the at Astoria , Oregon , and was withdrawn for scrapping in August .