USS Sherburne ( APA - 205 ) USS " Sherburne " ( APA - 205 ) was a United States Navy , built and used during World War II . She was of the VC2 - S - AP5 Victory ship design type . " Sherburne " was named for Sherburne County , Minnesota . She was later converted and renamed USS " Range Sentinel " ( AGM - 22 ) , a missile range instrumentation ship . Service history . " Sherburne " was laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull MCV - 553 ) on 18 May 1944 by Yard Number 2 , the Permanente Metals Corporation , Richmond , California ; launched on 10 July 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Mary Sernach ; and commissioned on 20 September 1944 , Commander Lannis A . Parker in command . World War II . Following commissioning , " Sherburne " proceeded to the Naval Supply Depot at Oakland , California . She remained in the San Francisco area until getting under way for San Pedro , California for shakedown training which she completed on 20 October . The ship then returned to San Francisco to become a training vessel for APA and AP crews being assembled at the Precommissioning Training Center at Treasure Island . During her duty as a training vessel , 24 October to 22 December , she embarked the officers and men of 19 ships for periods of one to five days each for short cruises to the operating areas off Point Reyes . They were given training in ship handling , emergency drills , and in surface and anti - aircraft firing . Upon completion of brief repairs at the Bethlehem Steel Co . in San Francisco , she got underway on 12 January 1945 toward San Diego for amphibious training . From 14 to 29 January , the ship underwent strenuous training in all phases of amphibious operations ; and , on completion of this duty , she returned to the San Francisco area to load cargo . On 15 February , " Sherburne " departed San Francisco for Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the morning of the 21st . On 20 March , the ship embarked her first contingent of troops and got underway with a convoy bound for the Marshall Islands . She arrived at Eniwetok on the 28th ; and , after discharging cargo , proceeded to Kwajalein , arriving there on 31 March ; and then to Ulithi which she reached on 6 April . She discharged cargo and troops at both ports . At Ulithi , she embarked a group of marines ; and , on the 15th , the ship headed for Guam , arriving at Apra Harbor the following day . After embarking another group of marines on the 20th , the ship continued on to Saipan , arriving the next day . On the 23rd , she embarked a group of Army troops ; and , four days later , the ship sailed in convoy for Okinawa . " Sherburne " arrived off Okinawa late in the afternoon of 1 May and immediately began debarking troops and cargo . Operations were delayed by bad weather and air attacks ; but , on the morning of the 4th , the ship completed offloading and got underway to return to Ulithi , arriving at that base on the 9th . Sailing the next day , she moored at San Francisco on 24 May . There she embarked troops ; and , on 2 June , again sailed for the forward area , this time to the Philippines . She refueled at Eniwetok and Ulithi , and arrived at Manila on the morning of the 23rd . On 4 July , she loaded Army troops for Cebu and delivered them there two days later . She then proceeded via Leyte to Biak , where she arrived on the 11th . There she loaded Army troops and sailed for Zamboanga , where she disembarked some of her troops on the 17th . Arriving at Manila two days later , she put the rest of her troops and cargo ashore and shifted to Subic Bay on 25 July for minor repairs and upkeep . On 4 August 1945 , " Sherburne " sailed for Lucena in Tayabas Bay , Luzon , for amphibious training of Army troops . This duty was abruptly terminated at mid - month by the Japanese capitulation . The ship immediately returned via Manila to Batangas Bay to load troops of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 11th Airborne Division for the occupation of the Tokyo region . Loading was completed on 24 August ; and , on the following day , the ship was underway in convoy for Yokohama , Japan . The convoy entered Tokyo Bay early on the morning of 2 September and proceeded up the bay . " Sherburne " passed at approximately the time of the reading of the surrender document on board that battleship . As the transport dropped anchor off the Yokohama breakwater , her radio receiver was announcing the final signature of the document . Debarkation of troops was completed in the afternoon ; and , on the following day , the ship moored alongside a Yokohama pier to discharge cargo . Unloading was completed that evening ; and , on the 4th , the ship was under way to return to Zamboanga for another contingent of occupation troops . On 11 September , " Sherburne " put into Leyte for fuel and supplies ; then continued to Zamboanga , arriving on the 16th . Loading of troops and cargo of the 41st Infantry Division was completed on the 19th . After picking up more troops and boats at Bugo , Mindanao , the ship sailed from Abuyog , Leyte , on the 22nd for Kure , Japan . On the 23rd , the convoy was diverted to Okinawa because of a delay in preparations at its destination ; and the ship anchored in Buckner Bay , Okinawa , the same day . She was forced to sea from 28 September to 1 October to evade a typhoon ; and , on the 2nd , got underway for Japan . The ship entered Bungo Suido early on 5 October ; and , after cautiously passing through a succession of mined areas in the Inland Sea , reached Hiro Wan the next day . Debarkation of troops and cargo began immediately and was completed on the 8th . " Sherburne " was next scheduled for duty in " Operation Magic Carpet " to return servicemen to the United States ; but she was diverted to Okinawa where , from 12 October to 14 November , she served as accommodation ship for a total of over 1 , 400 survivors of mine vessels and other craft wrecked there in a recent typhoon . On 28 November , the transport arrived at Seattle with a group of homeward - bound servicemen from Okinawa . After a month of repairs , she sailed on 28 December for Okinawa where , after embarking more troops between 15 and 21 January , she delivered them at San Francisco on 5 February . Post - war . " Sherburne " was decommissioned on 3 August 1946 ; and , after a decade in reserve in Navy custody , was transferred to the Maritime Administration at Suisun Bay , California , on 9 September 1958 . She was stricken from the Navy List on 1 October 1958 . Reactivation as " Range Sentinel " . Over 20 years after her decommissioning , " Sherburne " was called back to active duty to support the Navy ' s Polaris and Poseidon fleet ballistic missile flight test program . She was reclassified as a range tracking vessel , AGM - 22 , on 16 April 1969 , and was reacquired from the Maritime Administration and reinstated on the Navy list on 22 October 1969 . She began conversion at the Northwest Marine Ironworks , Portland , Oregon , on 28 October 1969 , renamed " Range Sentinel " on 26 April 1971 , and delivered to the Military Sealift Command on 21 October 1971 and placed in service , Sven Rydberg , master . Her conversion included the latest communications , navigation , and missile tracking and monitoring equipment . " Range Sentinel " continued in service into 1974 as a unit of the Military Sealift Command Special Projects Fleet , home ported at Port Canaveral , Florida . Fate . " Range Sentinel " was in the James River Reserve Fleet under the care of MARAD , until June 2012 when she was withdrawn from the reserve fleet under domestic sale . As of November 2012 she was being scrapped at Sparrow ' s Point , Baltimore Maryland . Awards . " Sherburne " received one battle star for her World War II service .