USS Tryon ( APH - 1 ) USS " Tryon " ( APH - 1 ) was laid down as SS " Alcoa Courier " ( MC hull 175 ) on 26 March 1941 , by the Moore Dry Dock Company , Oakland , California and launched on 21 October 1941 sponsored by Mrs . Roy G . Hunt . After the attack on Pearl Harbor , she was designated for U . S . Navy use and assigned the name " Comfort " in June 1942 . " Comfort " was renamed " Tryon " on 13 August 1942 , acquired by the U . S . Navy on 29 September 1942 , and commissioned on 30 September 1942 , with Comdr . Alfred J . Byrholdt in command . World War II . " Tryon " , an Evacuation Transport , got underway for San Diego on 9 October 1942 and departed from there on the 21st , bound for New Caledonia . On 7 November , she arrived at Noumea ; joined the Service Squadron , South Pacific ; and remained with that organization for the next 15 months , evacuating combat casualties from the Solomons to Suva , Noumea , Wellington , Auckland , and Brisbane . On her return trips to the forward areas , she carried priority cargo and troops for forces fighting the Japanese . " Tryon " s first combat duty came in the Marianas during the summer of 1944 . On 16 July , she joined Task Force 51 at Lunga Point and sortied for the invasion of Tinian . The hospital transport arrived off the beaches on the 24th , combat loaded with troops and equipment . After unloading , she embarked casualties for a week and then got underway for the Marshalls . The ship called at Eniwetok , New Caledonia , Espiritu Santo , and the Russell Islands before anchoring off Guadalcanal on 27 August 1944 . " Tryon " embarked 1 , 323 Marines of the 1st Marine Division and sortied on 8 September 1944 , with Transport Division 6 of Task Force 32 , for the assault on the Palaus . She was off the beaches of Peleliu on the morning of the 15th and disembarked elements of the assault wave . Then , serving as a hospital evacuation ship , she embarked 812 combat casualties and , on the 20th , stood out for Manus . She disembarked the patients at Seeadler Harbor four days later and headed back to Peleliu the next morning . The ship remained off the beaches from 28 September to 4 October and then joined a convoy bound for the Solomons . When " Tryon " arrived at Tulagi on 11 October , she was assigned to the 7th Fleet to participate in the Leyte campaign . She called at Hollandia and $ 3 en route and reached Leyte on the 30th . The ship completed unloading the next day and began the return voyage to the South Pacific . The transport loaded troops and cargo at Langemak Bay from 13 through 27 December and headed for Manus on 28 December 1944 . On 2 January 1945 , " Tryon " stood out of Manus with Task Group 77 . 9 , the reinforcement group , for the invasion of Luzon on the beaches of the Lingayen Gulf . She arrived off San Fabian on the morning of the 11th and began unloading troops and supplies . From 13 to 27 January , she received casualties on board and headed to Leyte Gulf where they were transferred to and . On 2 February , she joined a convoy and departed for the Solomons . On 22 February , the evacuation hospital ship got underway and proceeded via Pearl Harbor to the United States for an overhaul . She arrived at San Francisco on 11 March and remained in the navy yard until 20 May . After refresher training in San Diego , she sailed for Hawaii on 3 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor the following week . The transport then called at Eniwetok , Guam , and San Francisco before returning to Hawaii on 2 August . The next day , she headed for Guam and arrived there on the 15th to hear that hostilities with Japan had ceased . " Tryon " was routed to the Philippines , embarked occupation troops at Leyte , and joined a convoy for Japan on 1 September . The transport disembarked the troops at Yokohama and received liberated Allied prisoners of war en board for transportation to the Philippines . She disembarked them at Manila on the 18th . Post - war operations . On 1 October , Tryon was assigned to the " Magic Carpet " fleet which was established at the end of the war to return troops to the United States . She served with it through the end of the year . In mid - January 1946 , the ship was slated for inactivation . She was decommissioned at Seattle on 20 March 1946 , returned to the War Shipping Administration in April , and struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946 . " Tryon " was turned over to the United States Army on 17 July 1946 and converted into a troop transport by the Todd Shipyard , Seattle , Washington . She emerged from the yard on 25 August 1947 and was placed in service as USAT " Sgt . Charles E . Mower " . The Secretary of Defense , by a directive dated 2 August 1949 , established a unified sea transportation service ; and , on 1 March 1950 , the ship was transferred back to the Navy Department , assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service , and designated T - AP - 186 . USNS " Sgt . Charles E . Mower " operated as a dependent transport shuttling between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor until she was inactivated in 1954 . " Sgt . Charles E . Mower " was placed out of service , in reserve , on 16 June 1954 ; transferred to the reserve fleet at Suisun Bay ; and struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1960 . Awards . USS " Tryon " ( APH – 1 ) earned six battle stars during World War II .