President Jackson - class attack transport The " President Jackson " - class attack transport was a class of US Navy attack transport that saw service in World War II . Like all attack transports , the purpose of the " President Jackson " class was to transport troops and their equipment to hostile shores , and once there to execute amphibious invasions . To perform this task , attack transports were equipped with a substantial number of integral landing craft , and an abundance of antiaircraft weaponry to protect themselves and their vulnerable cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone . Background . The " President Jackson " class was based on the Maritime Commission ' s ubitiquous Type C3 hull - specifically on either the C3 - A , C3 - P or C3 - P & C types . This hull design had been finalized in the late 1930s as a type suitable for both merchant cargo service and also for naval auxiliary service in the event of war . Seven ships intended for commercial service with American President Lines were laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News , Virginia between October 1939 and December 1940 . The Maritime Commission acquired them all for military service before they were completed , but only five were initially handed to the Navy and designated " President Jackson " - class transports . These five vessels were all later converted into attack transports and correspondingly reclassified with " APA " hull numbers . The remaining two ships , and , were not transferred to the Navy until mid - 1943 . Unlike the other ships they were not assigned APA numbers , but instead kept their original AP classification . However , they appear to have been fitted out as attack transports nevertheless and assigned to similar duties . The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships does not classify these latter two vessels as " President Jackson " class , but since both ships were originally sister ships of the other five and served in the same wartime role , the DANFS omission may be an error and the ships are listed as " President Jackson " s here . The original five ships of the class were laid down between October 1939 and November 1940 . Time between initial laying of the keel to commission for the first five ships varied from 16 to 30 months - an unusually long time , which suggests the shipyard may have had other priorities . The first five were commissioned between 19 November 1941 and 31 August 1942 , while the remaining two were commissioned in July and August 1943 respectively . In service . Five ships of the class served exclusively in the Pacific Theatre . The other two , and , were assigned for their first combat mission to Operation Torch , the Allied invasion of North Africa . This would prove to be " Thomas Stone " s one and only mission , as she was torpedoed , bombed , run aground and subsequently scrapped . " Thomas Jefferson " , however , went on to participate in the Sicilian , Italian and Normandy landings in the European Theatre , before being transferred to the Pacific to take part in the final major operation there , the Battle of Okinawa . Immediately after the war the surviving ships of the class were assigned to transporting troops to occupation duties in newly conquered Japan and its former territories in China and Korea . They were then assigned to Operation Magic Carpet , the huge sealift organized to return demobilizing servicemen to the United States . The Navy must have been satisfied with the performance of this class , because only " President Polk " and " President Monroe " were struck from the Navy list after " Magic Carpet " . Unlike the overwhelming majority of attack transports , the rest remained in commission for undertaking transport missions until the early 1950s . Two of them , and " Thomas Jefferson " , went on to serve in the Korean War . By mid - 1955 however , the last ship of the class had been decommissioned , and the remaining units were struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1958 . These were all sold for scrapping in early 1973 , having each provided from 10 to 15 years of active service with the Navy . References . See the individual ship articles in the DANFS Online and Navsource Online amphibious warship indices .