USS Leo ( AKA - 60 ) USS " Leo " ( AKA - 60 ) , an , was named for the constellation Leo . She is the only ship of the United States Navy to hold this name . USS " Leo " served as a commissioned ship for 10 years and 5 months . " Leo " ( AKA - 60 ) was laid down 17 March 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny , New Jersey , under Maritime Commission contract ; launched on 29 July 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Ogden L . Mills , wife of the former Secretary of the Treasury ; acquired by the Navy on 29 August 1944 ; and commissioned on 30 August 1944 , with Commander T . E . Healey in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay , the new attack cargo ship departed Norfolk , Virginia , for Hawaii on 13 October 1944 , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 4 November . After a month of training off Maui , Hawaii , Leo steamed for Port Hueneme , California , arrived on 12 December , loaded cargo , and returned to Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve . After a month of intensive amphibious training , " Leo " steamed on 27 January 1945 for the assault on Iwo Jima with Amphibious TF 51 under Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner . After brief calls at Eniwetok and Saipan , the ship arrived off the beaches of Iwo early morning , D - Day , 19 February . Debarking her troops the first hour , " Leo " then offloaded her high - priority cargo of trucks , fresh water , and ammunition into boats alongside . For the next nine days , the ship evacuated casualties and continued sending crucial war material ashore . Steaming to the Marianas from Kwajalein , the ship prepared for the Okinawa landing . She departed Saipan on 27 March with Rear Admiral Wright ' s Demonstration Force for simulated landings on the southeastern beaches of Okinawa . Arriving at dawn on 1 April , the demonstration group received more attention from Japanese aircraft than did the actual landing group . About 0550 on 1 April a Japanese kamikaze crashed into , killing 24 and wounding 21 . Completing her mission , " Leo " sent all her LCVP s to " Hinsdale " to pick up survivors , after which she retired for night steaming . The next three days " Leo " moved in and out from the southeast beaches as a decoy , drawing fire from the shore . She was detached from Admiral Wright ' s group on 4 April and steamed for transport area " Baker " and an actual landing off the northern beaches of Okinawa . Arriving the next day , she transferred " Hinsdale " survivors to a hospital ship and commenced offloading cargo . Gunfire from the ship ' s starboard 40 mm mount destroyed a low - flying Japanese aircraft as it swooped down on the formation the afternoon of 6 April . Despite constant air raids , " Leo " offloaded all cargo by 14 April and steamed that afternoon for Ulithi , towing " Hinsdale " . They arrived on 23 April . She departed for Saipan on 25 April and through the rest of the war transported cargo between the Marianas and the Solomons . She completed two voyages from Saipan via Guam to Guadalcanal and Tulagi . Departing Guam on 26 August , she steamed for Manila , arrived on 1 September , and loaded troops and equipment of the 43rd Division , 8th Army , designated for occupation duty in Japan . Arriving on 15 September off Yokosuka , " Leo " debarked the Army troops , loaded troops and equipment of the 6th Marine Division , rode out a typhoon until the 18th , and departed next day for Tsingtao , China . She arrived Tsingtao , which was headquarters for U . S . naval forces in the western Pacific after World War II , and had put the marines ashore by 18 October . Inter - war period , 1945 – 1950 . " Leo " steamed for Manila and arrived on 23 October . After a fast cargo run to Hai Phong , French Indochina , " Leo " departed the Orient on 10 November and arrived Puget Sound 15 days later . Until the outbreak of the Korean War , " Leo " operated with the Naval Transportation Service in the Pacific . Korean War , 1950 – 1954 . After the North Koreans invaded South Korea " Leo " steamed from San Francisco for Sasebo , Japan , with ammunition for the 7th Fleet . She arrived Japan on 19 September 1950 and supplied ammunition to ships deploying to Korean waters . The AKA steamed for Korea on 9 November with ammunition , stores , and mail for the ships engaged in the siege of Wonsan . Departing on 14 November , she returned to Sasebo for ten days and then left for San Francisco on 19 December . She was again underway for Sasebo on 9 January 1951 , and she spent that year operating between Japan and Korea . She arrived Sasebo on 27 January , rearmed ships there , then steamed for Korea on 10 March and replenished ships at Pusan , Pohang , and Wonsan . Because of the buildup of heavy combatants off Korea and the logistical demands attendant to keeping them on the line , " Leo " operated between Sasebo and various rendezvous points in the Sea of Japan for the next nine months . Logistical problems diminished as " Leo " and her sister ships practiced night underway replenishment techniques . By 25 January 1952 , when " Leo " departed Sasebo for San Francisco , the logistics team was able to replenish a fast carrier task force in only nine hours . Upon arrival San Francisco on 9 February , " Leo " underwent overhaul and then steamed to Alaska on a cargo run during July and August . Between 7 October and 8 December she carried cargo from Oakland to Eniwetok . " Leo " also served as a transport for " Operation Ivy " , a series of American nuclear tests conducted at Eniwetak , Kwajalein , and Bikini Atoll in November 1952 . As a unit of the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) the ship made three more voyages to the Eastern Asian coast plus another run to Alaska during the next two years . Decommissioning and sale . " Leo " steamed from Oakland to Long Beach on 15 October 1954 where she was decommissioned on 11 February 1955 and transferred to the Pacific Reserve Fleet , San Diego . Subsequently transferred to the Maritime Administration , her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 July 1960 and she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay , California . On 19 July 1976 " Leo " was sold for scrap . Awards . " Leo " received two battle star s for World War II service and five battle stars for Korean service .