USS President Polk ( AP - 103 ) USS " President Polk " ( AP - 103 ) was a in the service of the United States Navy during World War II . " President Polk " was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News , Virginia ( MC hull 110 ) 7 October 1940 ; launched 28 June 1941 ; sponsored by Miss Patricia Kennedy . The ship was delivered to American President Lines ( APL ) in 1941 when she began operating as of 5 December as SS " President Polk " , a transport under government charter in the Pacific reinforcing Pacific bases , until 6 September 1943 when the ship was requisitioned and acquired by the Navy for conversion to a troop ship . The ship commissioned as at San Diego 4 October 1943 , Commander Clarence J . Ballreich in command . After the war she was returned to APL for commercial operations . World War II . War Shipping Administration Transport . Shortly after delivery in 1941 the SS " President Polk " began operating under government charter to supply and reinforce Pacific bases with the ship later being acquired by the War Shipping Administration ( WSA ) with American President Lines operating the ship as WSA ' s agent . In a particularly critical delivery the ship was diverted from a planned shipment to Hawaii and departed San Francisco on 19 December 1941 along with a tanker and two freighters with arrival in Brisbane , Australia on 12 January 1942 . There she delivered 55 P - 40E and 4 C - 53 aircraft including 55 pilots , 20 million . 30 caliber , 447 , 000 . 50 caliber , 30 , 000 three inch AA and 5 , 000 75 mm rounds of ammunition along with five carloads of torpedoes , over 615 , 000 pounds of rations and 178 officers and men in addition to the pilots . From Brisbane " Polk " , making a stop at Townsville , sailed to Soerabaja arriving on 30 January with ammunition , bombs , airplanes , and rations for forces in Java . Of eight vessels planned for relief of Java , and indirectly the Philippines , only " Polk " and the chartered Dutch vessel " Bloemfontein " , one of the " Pensacola " convoy vessels , arrived before that island fell on 9 March . United States Navy . After acquisition 6 September 1943 and conversion by the Navy the ship was assigned to the Naval Transportation Service . USS " President Polk " loaded construction battalion men and cargo at Port Hueneme , California and sailed 12 October 1943 for Pearl Harbor . Invasions of Tarawa and Kwajalein . On 16 November 1943 she got underway for the invasion of Tarawa , Gilbert Islands , where she unloaded her troops and cargo and then stood by as casualty receiving ship . Returning to Pearl Harbor 11 December , she weighed anchor again 22 January 1944 to carry troops to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands . Again used as an emergency hospital ship , she carried casualties to San Francisco , 24 February , then got underway with troops and cargo for New Caledonia , in the Solomon Islands , and the Admiralty Islands . Invasion of Leyte . In July she carried reinforcements to Guam and again sailed east with wounded personnel , arriving at Pearl Harbor 11 August and continuing on to California where she took on personnel and cargo for New Guinea . Arriving at Milne Bay 6 November , she loaded passengers and cargo , then proceeded to Bougainville Island to prepare for the invasion of Luzon . Disembarking troops on the Lingayen assault beaches , 11 January 1945 , she ferried reinforcements from Leyte , then sailed to Ulithi to take on Marines at Iwo Jima and return them to Hawaii . Thence she steamed to San Francisco , took on fresh troops , and headed west to Okinawa 24 July . After hostilities . V - J Day found her in Apra Harbor , Guam , whence she returned to San Francisco . Next , she transported troops from Seattle to Tinian , reported for Operation Magic Carpet 13 October , and completed runs from Espiritu Santo and Manila to San Francisco before the end of the year . USS " Ppresident Polk " , six battle star s for her World War II service , decommissioned and was transferred to the War Shipping Administration for return to her owner 26 January 1946 , " President Polk " was struck from the Navy List 25 February 1946 . Post War Commercial Service . American President Lines placed SS " President Polk " in its round - the - world trade until 15 July 1965 when the ship was sold to Ganaderos del Mar , renamed " Gaucho Martin Fierro " and in 1966 , under the same owner again renamed " Minotauros " . In 1970 the ship was scrapped at Kaohsiung , Taiwan .