USS Mellette ( APA - 156 ) USS " Mellette " ( APA - 156 ) was a " Haskell " - class attack transport built and used by the US Navy in World War II . She was a Victory ship design , VC2 - S - AP5 . She was named after Mellette County , South Dakota , USA . World War II service . " Mellette " was launched by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp . , Portland , Oregon , 4 August 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Clarissa Bickford ; acquired from the Maritime Commission on a loan ‑ charter basis ; and commissioned 27 September 1944 , Commander F . H . Spring , USNR , in command . In November 1944 " Mellette " followed a San Pedro shakedown cruise with a voyage to the Hawaiian Islands for training operations . She conducted amphibious troop , gunnery , and tactical exercises off Maui into January 1945 . On 27 January she joined TG 51 . 1 and got underway for Iwo Jima . With units of the 4th Marine Division embarked , she steamed west , via Eniwetok and Saipan , arriving off the Volcano Islands to participate in the initial assault 19 February . She remained off the eastern beaches of Iwo Jima for the next 6 days , unloading supplies and taking on casualties . On the 25th she sailed for Saipan where she disembarked her wounded passengers and began preparations for the upcoming Okinawa campaign . Through the next month " Mellette " trained off Tinian ' s western beaches with TG 51 . 2 and on 27 March weighed anchor and headed for the Ryukyus . On 1 April she was off Okinawa and at 0631 commenced disembarking units of the 2d Marine Division in diversionary landings along the island ’ s southeastern coast . Her mission completed by mid ‑ morning , she reembarked her marines and sailed to the main assault area to stand by until needed . There she remained until ordered back to Saipan on the 11th . She disembarked the marines at Saipan on the 14th and remained there until 4 June when she began carrying men and cargo among the Marianas and Solomons . In July she carried reinforcements , the Army ’ s 24th Infantry Regiment , to Kerama Retto . Back at Saipan when the Japanese capitulation was announced , 15 August , " Mellette " immediately took on men of the 6th Marine Division and sailed for Honshū . Arriving with the first wave of occupation troops , she disembarked the marines at Yokosuka Naval Base on the 30th , witnessed official surrender in Tokyo Bay 2 September , and then returned to Saipan to taken on men of the 2d Marine Division for transportation to Nagasaki . Next assigned to “ Magic Carpet ” duty , she completed two voyages between the western Pacific and Seattle before 21 January 1946 when she got underway for the east coast and inactivation . Arriving at Norfolk , Virginia , 3 February , she decommissioned 25 June and entered the Reserve Fleet at Yorktown , Virginia . Korean War era . With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea , " Mellette " was reactivated , recommissioning 18 October 1950 . For the next 4 years she operated primarily along the east coast , participating in fleet operations and exercises from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean . During that period she served with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean 8 September 1953 to 4 February 1954 . Fate . She decommissioned 18 June 1955 and joined the Charleston , South Carolina , group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . Berthed at Charleston for the next 5 years , she was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in June 1960 . Struck from the Naval Register 1 July 1960 , she has remained berthed with the James River , Virginia group into 1969 . Awards . " Mellette " received two battle star s for World War II service .