USS Oak Hill ( LSD - 7 ) USS " Oak Hill " ( LSD - 7 ) was an " Ashland " - class dock landing ship of the United States Navy , named in honor of Oak Hill , the Virginia estate of President James Monroe ( 1758 – 1831 ) . " Oak Hill " , originally designated as a Mechanized Artillery Transport , APM - 7 , was laid down by the Moore Dry Dock Co . , Oakland , California , 9 March 1943 ; launched on 25 June 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Robert E . Garrels ; and commissioned on 5 January 1944 , Commander Carl A . Peterson in command . World War II . Following shakedown and amphibious training off southern California , " Oak Hill " , designed to serve as a cargo and transport type amphibious ship and as a floating dry dock , ferried cargo between the west coast and Hawaii . In early May she engaged in rehearsals for Operation Forager , the thrust into the Marianas , and , at the end of the month , sailed west in Task Group 52 . 16 ( TG 52 . 16 ) . With tank - bearing LCM s and troops of the 2nd Marine Division on board , she arrived in transport area off Saipan early on 15 June . Her boats soon away and headed for the beachhead , the LSD took up repair duties , working on LCMs , LCVP s and LCT s until the 22nd . She then headed back to Pearl Harbor to resume shuttling cargo and landing craft between Hawaii and the west coast . On 12 August , " Oak Hill " , with tanks and soldiers of the 710th Tank Battalion embarked , headed west again . Following rehearsals for the Palau operation at Guadalcanal , she was off Babelthaup by 15 September . There she feinted toward Namai Bay , then proceeded to Anguar , sent her tank laden LCTs in , and again repaired landing craft . Departing the Palaus on the 21st , she moved to Ulithi , thence proceeded to New Guinea arriving at Humboldt Bay on the 29th to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines . On 20 October " Oak Hill " stood off Leyte and launched LTM s and LVT s carrying 1st Cavalry Division units toward White beach . For the next two months she carried reinforcements from New Guinea to Leyte and then , on Christmas Day , arrived at Morotai to prepare for the Lingayen Gulf offensive . Departing the 28th , she proceeded to Sansapor , thence , on 1 January 1945 , to the Philippines . On the 9th she dispatched LCTs and LCVPs to the Luzon beachhead , then withdrew to Leyte to begin ferrying reinforcements from there , and from Morotai , to the assault area . Sailing to the Solomons on 2 February , " Oak Hill " rehearsed with units of the 1st Marine Division for her next operation , the Okinawa campaign . On 1 April , she arrived in transport area Baker , lowered her LCMs for the assault on Blue Beach and then began repairing landing craft . Through the end of May , she remained in the Hagushi area for repair duties . Then she transported Marines and tanks to Iheya Shima and to Aguni Shima before steaming back to Leyte , 10 June . For the remainder of the war , " Oak Hill " transported men and equipment from the central Pacific to the Philippines and Okinawa . Post - war duties at Jinsen , Korea , and Tsingtao , China , occupied the remainder of her tour in the Far East . In February 1946 she got underway for the United States and on 17 March 1947 she decommissioned and was berthed at San Diego as a unit of the Pacific Reserve Fleet . 1951 – 1965 . After the outbreak of hostilities in Korea , " Oak Hill " recommissioned at San Diego 26 January 1951 , Commander R . C . Houston in command . Assigned to the Pacific Fleet , she participated in operation " Blue Jay " , in Arctic waters , in the late summer months of 1951 , and , between May and December 1952 , took part in Operation Ivy — the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshalls . Following that duty she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet and homeported at Norfolk . In January 1955 " Oak Hill " returned to San Diego and Pacific Fleet duty , departing for her first regular WestPac deployment 31 March . During her 1958 WestPac tour she supplied Nationalist Chinese offshore islands as they withstood shelling by Chinese Communist guns . After 1965 , her annual western Pacific deployments took her to South East Asia where she supported Naval operations in strife - torn South Viet Nam . Operating primarily in the Da Nang – Cam Ranh Bay areas , she performed assignments as far south as the Mekong Delta and visited ports in Thailand , Taiwan , and Japan as well as in the Philippines . " Oak Hill " was decommissioned on 26 October 1969 , and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 October 1969 . She was sold for scrapping , 15 April 1970 , to Marine Power and Equipment Co . , Seattle Washington . " Oak Hill " ( LSD - 7 ) earned five battle star s for World War II service and six campaign stars for Vietnam War service .