USS Telfair ( APA - 210 ) USS " Telfair " ( APA - 210 ) was a that saw service with the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War . She remained in service through most of the 1950s and 1960s , where she participated in various peacetime operations . " Telfair " was named after Telfair County , Georgia which was itself named for Edward Telfair , the second Governor of that state . She was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract ( MCV hull 558 ) on 30 May 1944 at Richmond , California , by Permanente Metals Corporation ; launched on 30 August 1944 , and commissioned at San Francisco on 31 October 1944 , Comdr . Lyle O . Armel , USNR , in command . Operational history . World War II . Following fitting out at Oakland , California , and shakedown and amphibious training off San Pedro , California , the attack transport returned via San Diego to San Francisco to load troops and cargo for her first westward voyage . On the second day of 1945 , she sailed westward and reached Pearl Harbor on the 8th . Nine days later , " Telfair " resumed her voyage carrying elements of the 111th Infantry Division to the Palaus for garrison duty . She disembarked troops at Peleliu between 30 January and 6 February and then continued on to the Philippines , arriving at Leyte on 9 February to prepare for the invasion of the Ryūkyūs . Invasion of Okinawa . In mid - March , the attack transport embarked elements of the Army ' s 77th Division and sortied from San Pedro Bay with Task Group ( TG ) 51 . 1 . The Western Islands Attack Group , as TG 51 . 1 was called , was responsible for conducting the prelude to the Okinawa invasion by securing the anchorage at Kerama Retto , a small cluster of islands just to the south and west of Okinawa . Accordingly , it was the first element engaged in combat in the vicinity of Okinawa during the actual invasion operation . Between 25 March and 2 April , " Telfair " participated in the assault and occupation of those key islets . Attacked by kamikazes . On 30 March , she reembarked her troops , and , on the afternoon of 2 April , she cleared the roadstead for a waiting area to the south . That evening , just after 1830 , her task group was jumped by 10 or more kamikazes . " Telfair " and her sister - ship " . . . were attacked by three planes in rapid succession . " Her gunners and those of " Goodhue " combined to explode one in mid - air . A second , after ricocheting between her starboard and port kingposts , smacked into " Telfair " ' s bulwark , then careened over the side . The third , his glide deflected by gunfire , crashed into " Goodhue " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s cargo boom , smashed her after 20 - millimeter gun tubs , and joined his compatriot in the sea . Repairs . " Telfair " remained in the vicinity of Okinawa supporting the invasion until 26 April when she got underway for Ulithi Atoll in the Western Carolines . She entered the lagoon on the 30th , replenished , and repaired battle damage until 22 May . On that day , the attack transport headed east to return to the United States . She reached Seattle , Washington , on 13 June , disembarked passengers , and underwent further repairs . On 26 June , she steamed out of Puget Sound and again pointed her bow westward . On 13 July , she delivered Army hospital units safely to Saipan . Four days later , " Telfair " left the Marianas , bound for San Francisco , where she arrived on the last day of July . After hostilities . Putting to sea once more on 12 August , the attack transport shaped a course for Ulithi , but peace had returned to the Pacific before she reached that atoll on the 28th . Over the next two months , she steamed between Luzon and Leyte in the Philippines , visiting Manila from 1 to 13 October . On the 16th , she departed Lingayen Gulf to land occupation troops in Japan . She made Hiro Wan and Kure , at Honshū , on the 20th and subsequently landed her passengers . Operation Magic Carpet . At the end of October , " Telfair " reported for Operation Magic Carpet duty . On 2 November , she arrived at Samar , in the Philippines , where she embarked her first load of veterans for the return voyage to the United States . On the 4th , the attack transport departed the Philippines and , after almost three weeks at sea , entered port at Portland , Oregon . " Telfair " remained on the west coast until Christmas Eve when she weighed anchor to return to the western Pacific . She stopped at Saipan at the end of the first week in January 1946 ; then continued on to Manila where she moored on the 12th . First decommission . For the next two months , she operated in the Philippine Islands , visiting Subic Bay and Samar . She departed Samar on 5 March and , after calling at Pearl Harbor , reached San Francisco on the 25th . On 8 April , she arrived at Stockton , California , to begin inactivation overhaul . On 20 July , she was inactive and berthed with the Stockton Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . Korean War . The North Korean attack upon the Republic of Korea in June 1950 returned " Telfair " to life . She was ordered activated on 7 August and actually rejoined the Pacific Fleet when she was recommissioned on 12 September 1950 , Capt . John Andrews , Jr . , in command . During the period of fighting in Korea , roughly June 1950 to July 1953 , " Telfair " deployed to the western Pacific on three separate occasions . During the first , from October 1950 to July 1951 , she visited Yokosuka , Kobe , and Sasebo in Japan and Inchon and Chinnampo in Korea , shuttling troops from the former three ports to the latter two . Her first and second Korean War deployments were separated by six months of operations along the west coast of the United States . Her second tour began with her departure from San Francisco on 26 January 1952 and ended upon her return to the west coast at San Diego on 24 May . In the intervening period , she saw no actual Korean service , but steamed between Okinawa , Kobe , Yokosuka , and Sasebo primarily engaged in training United Nations troops in amphibious operations . Her third and final deployment during the Korean War began on 30 October 1952 after four months on the west coast . It took her to the already - familiar Japanese ports and to Manila , Subic Bay , and Hong Kong , as well as the Korean ports of Pusan , Inchon , the island of Koje Do and to the vicinity of Sokcho Ri . " Telfair " returned to San Diego on 20 April 1953 and resumed operations in the eastern Pacific . Between August 1953 and February 1958 , " Telfair " made three more deployments to the western Pacific . For the most part , her duties during those visits to the Far East consisted of lifting United Nations troops from now - peaceful Korea ; shuttling troops and supplies between American bases in Korea , Japan , Okinawa , and the Philippines , and participating in 7th Fleet amphibious exercises . Operation Passage to Freedom . In August 1954 , however , she did depart from her normal routine to participate in Operation " Passage to Freedom " , in which Navy ships evacuated Vietnamese refugees from Haiphong in the communist - controlled northern half of newly - partitioned Indochina to Saigon in the pro - western southern portion . During non - deployment periods , " Telfair " conducted west coast operations and leave and upkeep periods in California ports . On 29 February 1958 , " Telfair " was decommissioned once more and laid up with the National Defense Reserve Fleet . Third commission . A little over two years later , it appeared that her naval career was at an end once and for all . On 1 July 1960 , " Telfair " was transferred to the Maritime Administration , and her name was struck from the Navy List . However , the Navy reacquired her on 24 August 1961 , and her name was reinstated on the Navy List on 1 September . She was placed in commission for the third time on 22 November 1961 , Capt . E . M . Higgins in command . " Telfair " ' s new seven - year lease on life took her to new oceans and new ports of call for , immediately following training off San Diego , she headed for duty with the Amphibious Force , Atlantic Fleet . She transited the Panama Canal on 1 February 1962 and arrived in her new home port , Norfolk , Virginia , on the 6th . From then until final decommissioning in 1968 , she alternated cruises to the Mediterranean as a unit of the 6th Fleet with operations in the western Atlantic as a unit of the 2d Fleet . On her Mediterranean cruises , she joined other units of the 6th Fleet in bi - national and multinational amphibious exercises . She was also on hand in Greek waters in April 1967 as part of the back - up force protecting American lives and property during the takeover by the military junta in Athens . When assigned to the 2d Fleet , " Telfair " operated from Norfolk and cruised the Atlantic seaboard , in the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico . She was normally engaged in amphibious exercises with marines from Camp Lejeune . In October 1964 she participated in Operation Steel Pike the largest peacetime amphibious landing exercise in history . Landed in Huelva , Spain with 84 naval ships and 28 , 000 marines . Afterwards stopped for liberty at the island of Madeira ( Funchal ) and then Santa Cruz de Tenerife , Canary Islands , Spain . though she also conducted summer training cruises for midshipmen of the Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland . Final decommission . On 31 October 1968 , " Telfair " was decommissioned for the third and final time at the Naval Amphibious Base located at Little Creek , Virginia . On the following day , her name was struck from the Navy List . On 26 June 1969 , she was transferred to the Maritime Administration once more , this time for simultaneous transfer to her purchaser , the Boston Metals Co . , of Baltimore , Maryland , which subsequently scrapped the ship . Decorations . " Telfair " earned one battle star for World War II and three battle stars during the Korean War .