USS General E . T . Collins ( AP - 147 ) USS " General E . T . Collins " ( AP - 147 ) was a for the U . S . Navy in World War II . She was named in honor of U . S . Army general Edgar Thomas Collins . She was transferred to the U . S . Army as USAT " General E . T . Collins in 1946 . On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) as USNS " General E . T . Collins " ( T - AP - 147 ) . She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS " New Orleans , before being eventually scrapped . Operational history . " General E . T . Collins " ( AP - 147 ) was launched 22 January 1944 under Maritime Commission contract ( MC # 663 ) by Kaiser Co . , Inc . , Yard 3 , Richmond , California ; sponsored by Mrs . Allison J . Barnet : acquired by the Navy and commissioned 20 July 1944 , Comdr . E . J . Milner in command . Following shakedown training out of San Diego , " General E . T . Collins " departed 14 August 1944 with over 3 , 000 troops for the Pacific fighting , as America ' s island campaign increased in momentum . The ship debarked troops at Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok , Saipan , Guam , and Kwajalein before returning to San Francisco 15 October 1944 . After a round - trip voyage to Pearl Harbor with additional troops , " General E . T . Collins " sailed once more 22 December bound for the islands of Micronesia . She carried troops to Eniwetok , Saipan , and Guam to support amphibious operations in the Pacific before returning to Seattle 7 February 1945 . " General E . T . Collins " returned to the western Pacific in April and for the remainder of the war operated out of Fremantle , Australia , carrying troops to the Pacific islands and India . Following the Japanese surrender , the ship arrived San Pedro 22 September with returning veterans , and joined the " Magic Carpet " fleet in the giant task of bringing home the thousands of troops from the Pacific islands . She made four such voyages in the months to come , stopping at Yokohama and Manila , and arrived San Francisco after the last passage 14 May 1946 . " General E . T . Collins " decommissioned there 17 June 1946 and was turned over to the Maritime Commission for transfer to the Army Transportation Service . The veteran transport was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950 for use by the MSTS with a civil service crew . At the outbreak of the war in Korea , the ship began transporting American troops to that stricken land for the struggle to thwart Communist aggression . She was at Pusan 12 December 1950 when orders came to sail to Hŭngnam for the famous evacuation of U . N . troops from that port . " General E . T . Collins " arrived 14 December and , under an umbrella of naval gunfire provided by and other ships , took on more than 6 , 000 exhausted troops , three times her troop - carrying capacity . After these fighters were safely debarked at Pusan , the ship returned to Hŭngnam Christmas Eve to bring out another load of troops to Pusan . Following this dangerous but successful operation , the transport resumed her vital troop carrying duties between the United States and the Far East . She remained on this service until late 1952 ; when , during October and November , she was part of the support task unit for Operation Ivy , the atomic tests at Eniwetok . After the Korean armistice " General E . T . Collins " continued to rotate troops in Korea and Japan , keeping strong America ' s presence in the critical Far East . She arrived San Francisco after her final passage 6 October 1954 and was inactivated . " General E . T . Collins " was returned to the Maritime Administration 30 June 1960 and was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet , Suisun Bay , California . She remained there until she was sold for commercial service in 1964 as SS " New Orleans " . The ship was later scrapped . " General E . T . Collins " received five battle star s for Korean War service .