USS Inca ( IX - 229 ) USS " Inca " , a 3 , 381 - ton ( light displacement ) " Liberty " ship , was launched in March 1943 at Los Angeles , California , and entered merchant service later the same month as S . S . " William B . Allison " , MCE hull 724 . Two years later she would be taken into US Navy as stores ship and renamed USS " Inca " ( IX - 229 ) . For much of her service as " Inca " she was also named USS " Gamage " ( IX - 227 ) because of bureaucratic confusion . Service history . On 25 May 1945 she was damaged by an aircraft torpedo off Nakagusuku Wan , Okinawa , and although towed into port she was considered a constructive total loss , not suitable for repair . On 25 July 1945 , based on a recommendation from the local War Shipping Administration ( WSA ) official , the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) authorized Commander Service Division ( ComServDiv ) 104 to accept the ship " as is " at Okinawa and place her in service for non - self propelled floating dry storage . ComServDiv 104 accepted her at Okinawa on 30 July and on 6 August the Secretary of the Navy ( SECNAV ) approved the name " Inca " and designator IX - 229 for her . She was converted to a storage ship by USS " Vestal " ( AR - 4 ) and USS " Zaniah " ( AG - 70 ) , and was in Buckner Bay , Okinawa , when typhoons struck on 16 September and 9 October 1945 . During the September typhoon she was hit by a merchant ship and suffered topside damage that was considered repairable , and she continued to issue supplies to ships in the bay . During the October typhoon she broke adrift and was one of several ships that USS " Nestor " ( ARB - 6 ) reported nearly hit her as " Nestor " was inexorably being driven ashore . " Inca " went aground during the storm and remained aground afterward , but plans to survey her in late October were canceled and she appears to have remained in service as a storage ship into December . Name Confusion . " Inca " was placed in the category " grounded ships , salvage not warranted " on 2 January 1946 , and on 12 January 1946 ComServDiv 104 reported that the ship was no longer required , that an informal inspection indicated needed repairs were too extensive , and asked that she be returned to WSA . In turn , the Commander in Chief , Pacific ( CINCPAC ) asked CNO what disposition was desired for " Inca " . CNO ' s response of 15 January , " above incorrect , " was probably the first clear indication received in the Pacific that the name and designation they had been using for this ship for the past five months were wrong . Back in early July 1945 the Navy had planned to take over another damaged Liberty ship , " Henry L . Abbott " , for self - propelled floating storage of lubricants and drummed petroleum products at Ulithi , and on 14 July SECNAV approved the name " Gamage " and designation IX - 227 for the ex - " Henry L . Abbott " . On 21 July , however , CNO wrote to the War Shipping Administration and asked that his request of 13 July for the " Henry L . Abbott " be canceled , because her poor hull condition made her unsuitable for use as dry cargo floating storage . CNO had already advised CINCPAC a day earlier of the cancellation of " Henry L . Abbott " . The Navy later decided to shift the name " Gamage " and the designation IX - 227 to the ex - " William B . Allison " and cancel the name and number given that ship on 6 August . This directive has not come to light in the archives , and the cryptic question sent to CINCPAC by CNO on 17 August , " Request information re acceptances " William B . Allison " for " Gamage " ( IX - 227 ) in lieu of " Henry L . Abbott " " appears to have gone unappreciated when CINCPAC on 24 August and again on 4 September reported the 30 July acceptance . The ex - " William B . Allison " was consistently called " Inca " in all reporting from the Pacific Theater through mid - January 1946 , and a photograph of her ashore at Buckner Bay appears to show the hull number IX - 229 painted on her bow . Disposition . On 15 January 1946 CNO directed that the ship be redelivered to WSA . She was placed out of service on 8 February 1946 , when she was reported lying on the bottom in Yonabaru Wan , Buckner Bay , Okinawa , with water in the holds up to the tween - decks . and was stricken from the Navy List on 12 March 1946 . On 26 February CNO told the naval base at Okinawa that WSA Okinawa was authorized to accept redelivery , but on 27 March the Okinawa naval base replied that WSA Okinawa refused to accept delivery without a specific directive from WSA Washington . The ship was finally redelivered to WSA as she lay on 6 April 1946 . The Maritime Commission sold her under her merchant name with seven other Okinawa wrecks , including USS Ocelot ( IX - 110 ) , Vandalia ( IX - 191 ) and five civilian Liberty ships , to China Merchants and Engineers , Inc . , for scrap . The ships were delivered to the buyer on 19 February 1948 under the condition that they be scrapped within two years and three months . An extension was later granted , and scrapping of all the ships except one of the civilian vessels was reported complete on 31 January 1952 .