USS Admiral W . L . Capps ( AP - 121 ) USS " Admiral W . L . Capps " ( AP - 121 ) , an , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Washington L . Capps ( 1864 – 1935 ) . Unusually , the first — — served concurrently with the " Admiral W . L . Capps " . " Via " a transfer to the United States Army and then back to the Navy , the ship was renamed USNS " General Hugh J . Gaffey " ( T - AP - 121 ) , making her the only ship to be named for Hugh Joseph Gaffey . Built in California . Her keel was laid down on 15 December 1942 at Alameda , California , by the Bethlehem - Alameda Shipyard Inc . , Inc . , under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 679 ) . She was launched on 20 February 1944 sponsored by Mrs . James Reed and delivered to the Navy and commissioned on 18 September 1944 with Captain N . S . Haugen , USCG , in command . World War II Service . Transporting troops for Pacific campaigns . Following shakedown training along the U . S . West Coast , the transport departed San Francisco , on 23 November , bound for the southwestern Pacific Ocean . En route she visited Nouméa , New Caledonia , where she disembarked marines and took on board passengers headed for Guadalcanal . From that island , " Admiral W . L . Capps " carried another group of passengers to Espiritu Santo . She embarked almost 3500 troops at the latter port and set a course for home where she arrived on the day after Christmas . The ship put to sea again on 21 February 1945 bound for Hollandia , New Guinea , whence she proceeded to the Philippines . The ship arrived at Leyte on 20 March and departed that island on 8 April for the United States . After arriving at San Francisco , late that month , she moved north to Seattle , Washington , where she embarked almost 5000 troops to reinforce American units fighting on Okinawa . Sailing on 7 May , the transport stopped at Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok , and Ulithi before reaching Okinawa on 2 July . Next she visited Saipan on 12 and 13 July , before getting underway on the latter day bound ultimately for the Panama Canal and the East Coast of the United States . Supporting Atlantic operations . " Admiral W . L . Capps " entered port at Norfolk , Virginia , on 4 August and , while undergoing voyage repairs , received word at mid - month that hostilities in the Pacific had ended . She stood out of Norfolk on 1 September , with members of the French Navy among her passengers . After dropping them off at Marseille , France , and embarking American troops , she headed back toward the United States and arrived in Norfolk on 20 September . Five days later , the ship once more set out for the Mediterranean Sea , this time to repatriate some 3765 former Italian prisoners of war . After stopping at Naples and Marseille , she returned to Newport News , Virginia , on 19 October . Between that time and mid - December , the ship made two more round - trip voyages to France and back , one to Le Havre and the other to Marseille , returning American servicemen home . End - of - war operations . On 29 December , she put to sea to return to the Pacific . At Pearl Harbor , the transport embarked troops and continued her voyage west on 16 January 1946 . She disembarked one group of passengers at Yokosuka , took on almost 4700 more , and headed for Seattle on 30 January . In March , the ship made a round - trip voyage from the U . S . West Coast to Okinawa , returning to San Francisco with over 4800 troops . In April , she moved from the west coast to New York City which she reached on 24 April . On 8 May 1946 , " Admiral W . L . Capps " was decommissioned and returned to the Maritime Commission . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in June 1946 . Post - war service . The Maritime Commission transferred the ship to the United States Army which named her USAT " General Hugh J . Gaffey " . She served the Army Transport Service until 1 March 1950 when the Navy re - acquired her . Retaining her Army name , the transport was not re - commissioned , but instead was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service and manned by a civil service crew . USNS " General Hugh J . Gaffey " ( T - AP - 121 ) spent almost two decades carrying men and material to American installations throughout the Far East and the Pacific Ocean . Korean and Vietnam War support . She supported American troops in the Korean War in the early 1950s and performed similar service in the Vietnam War in the mid - 1960s . On 4 November 1968 , " General Hugh J . Gaffey " was transferred to the Maritime Administration on a temporary basis to be laid up with the National Defense Reserve Fleet facility at Suisun Bay , California . On 31 August 1969 she was transferred permanently to Maritime Administration custody . Her name was again struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 October 1969 . Service as a barracks hulk . In 1978 the transport was reacquired by the Navy a second time and her name reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register . Redesignated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel , IX - 507 , " General Hugh J . Gaffey " was placed in service in November 1978 at Bremerton , Washington , to serve as a barracks ship for the crews of ships undergoing major overhaul . As of 1 January 1989 , her name was still on the list of active duty service craft . Final status . The transport was sunk in RIMPAC 2000 EXERCISE as a missile target , 16 June 2000 , position : 023° 35 ' 01 . 0 " North , 159° 50 ' 00 . 2 " West , depth : 2 , 730 fathoms