USS Duplin ( AKA - 87 ) USS " Duplin " ( AKA - 87 ) was a of the United States Navy named after Duplin County , North Carolina . Like all AKAs , " Duplin " was designed to carry military cargo and landing craft , and to use the latter to land weapons , supplies , and Marines on enemy shores during amphibious operations . She served as a commissioned ship for 12 months . The ship was laid down as a Type C2 - S - AJ3 ship under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1401 ) on 18 August 1944 at Wilmington , North Carolina by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co . and launched on 17 October 1944 , sponsored by Miss Mary Jennette . Acquired by the Navy on 30 October 1944 , the ship was placed in service the same day , and taken in tow by the tug " Race Point " on 7 November 1944 for the voyage to Bethlehem Steel Co . , Key Highway Plant , Baltimore , Maryland , for conversion . She departed for Norfolk , Virginia , on 16 December 1944 and arrived the next day , placed out of service on 18 December 1944 ; and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 15 May 1945 , Commander Herbert B . Fluck , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1945 . Following commissioning , " Duplin " reported for shakedown on 27 May 1945 , and completed that training on 6 June . Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service ( NTS ) , the new attack cargo ship departed Hampton Roads on 12 June 1945 for Marseille , France , arriving at her destination on 24 June 1945 to embark Army troops and cargo earmarked for the Pacific , German prisoners - of - war providing the necessary labor . " Duplin " sailed from Marseille on 9 July . Transiting the Panama Canal between 24 and 26 July , the ship reported to the Commander - in - Chief , Pacific Fleet , for duty on the latter date . She then proceeded on to Manila , and during her passage westward , in mid - August , the war in the Pacific ended . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1946 . She reached her destination on 23 August , unloading cargo and discharging her passengers within 24 hours . Shifting to Aringay , Lingayen Gulf , the ship began embarking troops of the U . S . Army ' s 33rd Division on 5 September , and sailed in convoy on 20 September for Wakayama , Honshu . Arriving off her destination on 27 September , she disembarked her troops and discharged cargo soon thereafter . Returning to the Philippines , the attack cargo ship arrived at Tolomo , Mindanao , on 10 October , part of her passage having been enlivened by heavy seas . She made a similar voyage to land troops of the 24th Division , embarking them beginning on 15 October and putting them ashore at Matsuyama , Shikoku , on 22 October . " Stevedoring was performed industriously by Japanese prisoners , " an observer in " Duplin " later wrote , " who were amazed at the efficient cargo handling of the American Blue Jackets . . . " Following completion of that occupation troop lift , " Duplin " proceeded to Mitsugahama Roads to await further assignments ; assigned thence to Commander , Western Sea Frontier , the ship embarked homeward - bound officers and men in the Matsuyama area , then sailed for Nagoya on 6 November 1945 , arriving the following day . Embarking another large contingent of U . S . - bound men , the attack cargo vessel sailed for San Francisco , California , on 9 November . Re - routed to Seattle , Washington , during the return trip , " Duplin " reached Port Townsend , Washington , as part of the " Magic Carpet " operation on 20 November , " safely and expeditiously delivering happy personnel to the welcome shore of their beloved United States of America . " Dropping down the west coast to San Francisco , arriving on 12 December 1945 , " Duplin " loaded cargo for occupation forces in Japan , and sailed three days after Christmas ( 28 December 1945 ) on her final run to the Far East . Touching at Sasebo ( 15 – 24 January 1946 ) and Yokosuka ( 26 January - 7 February ) . Returning to San Francisco on 20 February , she loaded cargo ( including eight LCM - 3 landing craft ) , and ultimately departed Oakland , California , on 6 March for the east coast . During her passage Norfolk - ward , she embarked a USO troupe in the Canal Zone ( 14 – 18 March ) . Decommissioning and sale . Ultimately making port at Norfolk on 26 March , " Duplin " was decommissioned on 21 May 1946 and re - delivered to the Maritime Commission the following day at Lee Hall , Virginia , on 22 May , and transferred to the War Shipping Administration on 23 May 1946 for disposal . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 5 June 1946 . Renamed SS " Kathryn " , the former attack cargo ship operated under the house flag of A . H . Bull Steamship Company out of New York until 18 September 1962 . On that day she was sold in a US Marshal ' s asset sale to National Maratime Leasing Co . On April 11 , 1963 the Dearborn Shipping Company purchased the former AKA and renamed her SS " Dearborn " . Sold and renamed a third time , to SS " Rio Grande " on September 18 , 1963 by her new owners Rio Grande Transport , Inc . she served for a little over a year until being returned to the Maratime Administration . MARAD operated the ship as a charter carrier until September 28 , 1967 when she was once again laid up in the reserve fleet . Deemed as surplus to needs , she was ultimately scrapped in January 1971 by American Ship Dismantlers .