USS Ancon ( AGC - 4 ) USS " Ancon " ( AGC - 4 ) was an ocean liner acquired by the United States Navy during World War II and converted to a combined headquarters and communications command ship . Early civilian service . " Ancon " was launched on 24 September 1938 at Fore River Shipyard ( Bethlehem Steel Company ) , Quincy , Massachusetts , sponsored by Mrs . Harry Woodring , wife of the Secretary of War . The ship was owned and operated by the Panama Railroad Company , and on 22 June 1939 she began cargo and passenger service between New York City , New York and Cristobal , Panama Canal Zone . Army and Navy acquisitions . The ship was taken over by the Army Transport Service on 11 January 1942 as USAT " Ancon " . She made two voyages to Australia carrying Army Air Corps units and elements of the 32nd Infantry Division to bolster that continent ' s defenses ; the first voyage left on 31 January 1942 headed for Brisbane , Australia from San Francisco , the second left San Francisco on 23 April 1942 bound for Adelaide and Sydney . She returned to San Francisco 18 June 1942 and was acquired by the Navy on 7 August 1942 and placed in commission at the Boston Navy Yard as " Ancon " ( AP - 66 ) on 12 August 1942 , Lt . Comdr . D . H . Swinson in command . According to the diary of Edgar Roy Cochrun , Chaplain , United States Army , who had boarded the ship on 20 April , the " Ancon " departed San Francisco on its second voyage to Australia at 5 : 55 p . m . on Wednesday , 22 April 1942 , and not on 23 April . Following her commissioning , " Ancon " underwent a month ' s work at Boston , being converted for naval service . On 12 September , she got underway for the Virginia Capes and , on arrival at Norfolk took on cargo and troops to transport to Baltimore , Maryland . She reached Baltimore on 6 October and disembarked her passengers . She then conducted trials and exercises in the Chesapeake Bay . After pausing at Norfolk to take on more troops and equipment , she left the East Coast on 24 October , sailing for North Africa as a member of Transport Division 9 , Amphibious Force , Atlantic Fleet . Mediterranean service . " Ancon " anchored off Fedhala , French Morocco on 8 November and began lowering her boats at 0533 . The first troops were debarked an hour later . During the course of the assault , men on the ship witnessed the sinking of four other transports , and " Ancon " sent out boats to rescue their survivors . On 12 November the transport headed out and , three days later , put into Casablanca harbor . She got underway on the 15th with a convoy bound for Norfolk . After a brief pause there , " Ancon " traveled to Brooklyn , New York for voyage repairs . A brief period of sea trials preceded the ship ' s loading cargo and troops for transportation to Algeria . She sailed on 14 January 1943 as a member of the Naval Transport Service . The ship reached Oran on the 26th and spent five days discharging her cargo before heading back toward New York City , where she arrived on 13 February . On that day , the vessel was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces . On the 16th , " Ancon " entered the Norfolk Navy Yard , Portsmouth , Virginia , to undergo conversion to a combined headquarters and communications command ship . She was redesignated AGC - 4 on 26 February . Following the completion of the yard work on 21 April , " Ancon " held trials and exercises in the Chesapeake Bay through May and into early June when she was designated the flagship of the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces . The ship got underway for Oran on 8 June with Task Force ( TF ) 85 . The ship had been selected to participate in the invasion of Sicily , and her preparations continued after her arrival at Oran on 22 June . Carrying Rear Admiral Alan G . Kirk , Commander , TF 85 , and Lieutenant General Omar Bradley on board , " Ancon " sailed on 5 July for the waters off Sicily . She reached the transport area off Scoglitti on the 10th and lowered her boats early that morning . Despite enemy fire , the ship remained off Scoglitti providing communications services through the 12th and then got underway to return to North Africa . At the end of a fortnight there , she shifted to Mostaganem , Algeria , on 29 July . In mid - August , the vessel moved to Algiers . During her periods in port , she prepared for the upcoming invasion of mainland Italy for which she had been designated flagship for the Commander of the 8th Fleet Amphibious Forces in Northwest African Waters . On 6 September , " Ancon " got underway for Salerno . During the operation , the ship carried Lieutenant General Mark Wayne Clark who commanded the 5th Army . At 0330 on 9 September , the first wave of Allied troops hit the beach . Thereafter , she remained in the transport area , undergoing nearly continuous enemy air harassment , until she moved to Palermo , Sicily , to pick up ammunition to replenish her sister ships . She returned to the area off Salerno on the 15th but , the next day , arrived back in Palermo . Normandy . After two weeks in that Sicilian port , " Ancon " shaped a course for Algiers . She reached that port on 2 October and spent almost six weeks undergoing repairs and replenishment . In mid - November , she set sail for the United Kingdom and , on 25 November , arrived in Devonport , England , where she was designated the flagship of the 11th Amphibious Force . An extended period of repairs and preparations for the impending invasion of France kept " Ancon " occupied through the winter and much of the spring participating in numerous training exercises with other Allied warships . On 25 May , King George VI of the United Kingdom and Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery visited the ship . The preparations culminated on 5 June , when " Ancon " got underway for Baie de la Seine , France . She served as flagship for the assault forces that landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy . Throughout the invasion , the ship provided instructions for forces both afloat and ashore . She transferred various units of the Army command to headquarters ashore and made her small boats available to other ships to carry personnel and materials to the beachhead . On 27 June , she got underway to return to England and , the next day , arrived at Portland . " Ancon " remained in British waters through late September , when she sailed in a convoy bound for the East Coast of the United States . She reached Charleston , South Carolina on 9 October and was then assigned to the Amphibious Training Command . At the completion of repairs at the Charleston Navy Yard on 21 December , the ship got underway for sea trials . Five days later , she shaped a course for the Pacific . On the last day of 1944 , the ship transited the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet . She continued on to San Diego , California , where she arrived on 9 January 1945 . Pacific service . Upon reaching San Diego , " Ancon " entered Amphibious Group 5 . She then proceeded to Pearl Harbor and , during the first two weeks of February , carried out training exercises in Hawaiian waters . On 15 Feb 1945 , she set out for Eniwetok where she paused to refuel before pushing on to Saipan . Ancon reached Saipan late in February 1945 and began holding rehearsals off that island and Tinian for the upcoming assault on Okinawa . The ship sailed for the Ryūkyūs with Transport Squadron 15 on 27 March . " Ancon " arrived with TG 51 . 2 off the southeast coast of Okinawa on 1 April . Due to heavy enemy air activity , the ship stood out to sea on the 3rd and set out for Saipan on the 11th . She disembarked Marines at Saipan on the 15th . After replenishment , " Ancon " left Saipan to return to Okinawa . For three weeks , she was anchored off the western beaches of Okinawa and supported forces ashore . During this time , the ship was almost continuously at general quarters due to Japanese air raids . " Ancon " left Okinawa on 3 June and proceeded to Subic Bay and Manila , Philippines . There , she served as flagship of Commander , 7th Amphibious Force . For the next two months , the ship was involved in preparations for invasion of the Japanese home islands . However , this operation never materialized because Japan capitulated on 15 August . Shortly thereafter , " Ancon " got underway for Tokyo Bay with an intermediate stop at Iwo Jima . On 22 August , the ship rendezvoused with units of the 3d Fleet and sailed on toward Japan . On the morning of the 29th , " Ancon " sailed into Tokyo Bay and assumed duties as a press release ship in coordination with battleship . From the ship ' s anchorage between and , her crew witnessed the official Japanese surrender on 2 September . " Ancon " left Japanese waters on 20 September and set a course for Guam . She briefly stopped at Apra Harbor on the 27th , pushing on that same day for Saipan . There , the ship embarked occupation troops and supplies before reversing her course on 29 September and heading back to Japan . On 2 October , " Ancon " was assigned to the 5th Fleet as the headquarters ship for a strategic bombing survey . She touched at Yokohama , Japan on 3 October and remained in that area through November . Then , her survey duties being completed , the ship got underway on 1 December to return to the United States . " Ancon " reached San Francisco Bay on 14 December . She remained at San Francisco in availability until 4 January 1946 when she sailed for the East Coast . The vessel again passed through the Panama Canal on 14 January and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet . She continued on to the New York Naval Shipyard , where she arrived on the 23rd and began deactivation preparations . Awards . European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , 8 Nov , 41 – 11 Nov , 42 , Algeria - Morocco Occupation , Operation Torch , the Allied Invasion of French North Africa . European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , 9 Jul , 43 – 15 Jul , 43 , Sicily Occupation , Operation Husky , the Allied Invasion of Sicily . European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , 9 Sep , 43 – 21 Sep , 43 , Salerno Landings , Operation Avalanche , the Allied Invasion of Italy . European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , 6 Jun , 44 – 25 Jun , 44 , Normandy Landings , Operation Overlord , D - Day . Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal , 1 Apr , 45 – 3 Jun , 45 , Ryuku Islands Landings , Operation Iceberg , The Battle of Okinawa . Philippine Liberation Medal , 5 Jun , 45 – 20 Aug 1945 , Subic Bay Philippines , Philippines Campaign of 1944 - 45 . World War II Victory Medal , 7 Dec , 41 – 31 Dec , 46 Navy Occupation Service Medal with Pacific Clasp , 2 Sep , 45 – 20 Sep , 45 or from 2 Oct , 45 – 30 Nov , 45 , Tokyo , and later Yokohama , Occupation of Japan . Decommissioning and disposal . " Ancon " was decommissioned on 25 February 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Administration , which returned the ship to her original owner . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 17 April 1946 . At a later date , the ship was again returned to the Maritime Administration , which turned her over in 1962 to the Maine Maritime Academy . The latter operated her as TS " State of Maine " until returning her to the Maritime Administration in 1973 . She was subsequently scrapped .