USS Neshoba ( APA - 216 ) USS " Neshoba " ( APA 216 ) was a in the United States Navy . She was named for Neshoba County , Mississippi . One of the 130 ships of her class , the " Neshoba " was built by the Permanente Metals Corporation of Richmond , California , and launched on 7 October 1944 . She was commissioned as a ship of the United States Navy on 16 November 1944 being sponsored by Mrs . Wendall E . Adams of Berkeley , California , and placed in command of Commander Martin J . Drury , USN . The conversion to an attack transport was made at Hunter ' s Point Ship Yard in San Francisco . The conversion consisted of installing Navy radio and radar equipment , armament , adding Welin davits for landing craft , and loading the landing craft themselves . Service history . 1944 – 1945 . At the conclusion of this conversion , the " Neshoba " took her shakedown cruise , a coastal run from San Francisco to San Diego . During this cruise she attained her top speed of 19 knots . At San Diego , she was committed to Amphibious Training at which time the new boat crews got a feel of their craft . She acted as flagship for Transport Squadron Thirteen whose commanding officer at that time was Commodore John G . Moyer , USN . The training was supposed to last a period of two weeks , but sudden changes in the Pacific Fleet organization made the " Neshoba ' s " entrance on the scene of action imperative and the training was cut short . She proceeded to San Pedro , California , where final repairs and checkups were performed . Ten days were allotted for this work , then she loaded with a cargo of food at San Francisco and received her first set of combat sailing orders – telling her merely to " Proceed Pearl Harbor " . Upon arriving at Pearl Harbor , the cargo was dispatched and its place was taken by a " human cargo " of hundreds of Seabee s . The " Neshoba " was instructed to sail for the Philippine Islands , stopping off at Eniwetok , Ulithi , and Palau on the way . After twenty days at sea , the " Neshoba " arrived in Leyte Gulf on 20 February 1945 . The Seabee s were taken off and brought into Samar Island . While at Leyte Gulf , the " Neshoba " was designated as the flagship of Commander Transport Division Forty Two , Captain Edwin T . Short , USN . Preparations were underway at this time for the eventual invasion and occupation of Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands . Combined with Transport Divisions Forty and Forty - one , they made up Transport Squadron Fourteen commanded by Commodore Richardson , USN . It was decided to hold extensive maneuvers in Leyte Gulf for the ships and troops scheduled to take part in the forthcoming operation . Transport Squadron Fourteen was to carry troops and equipment of the 96th Infantry Division to the assault , so these troops were made subject to the maneuvers in Leyte Gulf . Maneuvers were to last for six days , during which time , two " dry runs " were made on the island of Leyte . Everything worked out as planned , and the high command set the date for the invasion of Okinawa on 1 April , Philippine time . Transport Squadrons Thirteen and Fourteen got underway from Leyte Gulf on 27 March 1945 for the four - day trip north to Okinawa . Boats from the " Neshoba " were assigned to take in the first six waves of assault troops . Since the landings were virtually unopposed , no casualties were inflicted on the crew , and upon completion of the unloading phase , many transports were ordered by Admiral Turner to return to Pearl Harbor . Captain Short , aboard the " Neshoba " , was named Officer in Tactical Command ( OTC ) of fifteen ships in convoy , which left Okinawa on 5 April and proceeded to Pearl , via Guam . At Guam she was loaded with ninety Japanese prisoners of war and sailed from Guam with her convoy on 10 April bound for Pearl . Captain Short was relieved as CTD 42 by Captain Andrew R . Mack , USN . He continued as OTC for the remainder of the trip . The convoy arrived on time at Pearl Harbor on 22 April and many of the ships received sailing orders for the United States . The " Neshoba " was not among the lucky ones . Instead , she was ordered by AdComPhibspac to take part in training maneuvers at Maui . OTC for the training schedule was ComTransRon 19 . It was during these practice runs that the " Neshoba " achieved the remarkable record of lowering all her boats into the water in the record time of nine minutes . Upon conclusion of these maneuvers , she proceeded back to Pearl Harbor where her new orders read , " REPORT SAN FRANCISCO FOR LOADING " . She was on her way early the next day , and 24 May saw the " Neshoba " passing under the Golden Gate Bridge . Most of the crew took a few days ' leave and when they returned , the " Neshoba " was ready to sail again . This time , it was Okinawa with a load of Naval Ship Repair Unit personnel . The first leg of the trip carried her all the way to Eniwetok Island non - stop . Due to unloading difficulties in Okinawa , ships were held at all ports in the Pacific to wait their turn to go there . The " Neshoba " was held for three weeks at Eniwetok . On 9 July 1945 " Neshoba " sailed in convoy to Ulithi , then to Okinawa . This trip to Okinawa did not find the same peaceful conditions as prevailed on D - Day . Attacks by kamikaze s of the Japanese air forces were in full swing at the time . During the ship ' s five - day stay there , she was under several air raids , which did not come near the berth , and all hands were relieved when her orders came to depart on 29 July . Once again , it was convoy duty for the " Neshoba " , but one of a very different nature . She was not in a convoy of ships of her type , but was the mother ship to upwards of seventy craft , ranging in size from LST ' s down to fleet ocean tug s . Captain Mack was in command of this convoy as it set out for Saipan . During the trip , a small , but very annoying typhoon was encountered , but all ships and craft weathered the storm and sailed into Saipan harbor on 6 August . Army and Navy dischargees were taken aboard as passengers , and on 8 August 1945 , the " Neshoba " was told to take to the Pacific . The original orders read to proceed at top speed to San Francisco , but through some change of administrative orders , the " Neshoba " was told to change course and head for Pearl Harbor . This order was carried out , but not for long , because further orders were soon forthcoming with instructions to bypass San Francisco and report to the Thirteenth Naval District , Seattle , Washington . The arrival at Seattle was heralded by a shore - based ovation . Following the debarkation of the passengers , the ship was brought over to the Bremerton Navy Yard for repairs . The yard workers concentrated mostly on the boilers , which were in serious need of attention . Temporary repairs took one week after which the headquarters detachment of the 97th Infantry Division was embarked at Pier Forty - two . The commanding general aboard was Brigadier General Partridge . The " Neshoba " once again put out to sea with original orders to carry her passengers to Leyte Island in the Philippines . A stop at Pearl Harbor was ordered and the " Neshoba " made her reappearance there on 17 September 1945 . Since there were only seven hundred army passengers on board , the Navy found it very convenient to embark an additional seven hundred men – sailors , marines , and Seabees – who were bound for Guam . The ship left Pearl Harbor on 20 September , a three - day stopover was made at Guam to disembark the new passengers , and the ship received her orders to continue with the 97th Infantry on to Yokohama , Japan . Following her arrival , the troops were disembarked and the " Neshoba " lay at dock , her holds and compartments empty , waiting to receive more passengers . It was during the brief stay in Yokohama that the " Neshoba " was assigned to Task Group 16 . 12 , popularly known in the Navy as " The Magic Carpet " . Commanded by Rear Admiral Kendall , USN , in Pearl Harbor , the " Magic Carpet " fleet had the specific duty of moving eligible dischargees from overseas to the United States . The remaining units of the 43rd Infantry Division were embarked at Pier Four in Yokohama for return to San Francisco over the shortest possible route . The Captain and the Commodore jointly agreed on taking the Great Northern Route , which is about 4 , 700 miles , so it cuts off about 2 , 000 miles from the southern route . Upon arriving in San Francisco and debarking troops , the " Neshoba " headed for Mare Island Navy Yard for minor repairs . Captain Drury and Lieut . Comdr . Davis were relieved of duty by Captain E . J . Sweeney , USNR , and Lt . D . M . Newbern as the executive officer , later promoted to lieutenant commander . The " Neshoba " at this time was in drydock , its first time , and only five short days were taken in the repairs , before she once more had to be readied for a non - stop voyage to Guam . On this trip the crew expected to celebrate the first birthday of the ship , but it so happened that they crossed the International Date Line , thereby " gaining " a day and skipping 15 November , the ship ' s " birthday " , so the anniversary was celebrated on the 16th . The ship arrived at Guam the 23rd , where she was loaded with Marines to carry to China . With the escort of the to clear mines in the Yellow Sea , the crew experienced cold weather for the first time and for most of the trip . On 30 November the hook dropped in the Yellow Sea about 20 miles from the coast and liberty was granted for all hands in Tientsin . After a short stay in China the orders read once more for statewide and on 5 December the ship departed for San Diego , California . 1946 . Christmas and New Year ' s were spent tied up at the Destroyer Base in San Diego , awaiting more orders and passengers . They both came , and the ship headed for Guam on 11 January and arrived on the 26th , debarking troops . After a very short stay in Guam , orders arrived for a return to San Francisco . There it was learned that the " Neshoba " would be put out of active service on 13 March . With a new paint job , sealing of guns , compartments and everything ready for the storeroom , the " Neshoba " , commonly known as the " Mighty N " , left Mare Island for Stockton , California . She was to be a " mother ship " for five other ships tied together . References . Based on an article by Charles W . Smallwood SK3 / C and Clifford Mackin RM2 / C Adapted from : " The History of the U . S . S . Neshoba " . Cover : U . S . S . Neshoba . Anon . San Angelo , Tex . : Newsfoto Publishing Co . , [ 1946 ] . Permission to use article and other material from the Cruise Book granted by Steve Lanning of Taylor Publishing which absorbed Newsfoto Co .