USNS Marine Adder ( T - AP - 193 ) USNS " Marine Adder " ( T - AP – 193 ) was a troop ship for the United States Navy in the 1950s . She was built in 1945 for the United States Maritime Commission as SS " Marine Adder , a Type C4 - S - A3 troop ship , by the Kaiser Company during World War II . In 1950 , the ship was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service of the U . S . Navy as a United States Naval Ship staffed by a civilian crew . After ending her naval service in 1957 , she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet , but was sold for commercial use in 1967 . Renamed SS " Transcolorado , she was chartered by the Military Sealift Command as a civilian cargo ship designated T - AK - 2005 . Career . " Marine Adder " was laid down under a United States Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Company of Richmond , California on 7 March 1945 ; launched on 16 May 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs . L . Jorstad ; and delivered to her operator , American President Lines on 5 October 1945 . " Marine Adder " departed San Francisco early in November and sailed to Saipan where she embarked returning servicemen . She arrived at San Pedro , California in early December , then sailed on a second trooplift on 29 December . She steamed to the Marianas , the Philippines , Korea , and Okinawa before returning to Seattle in March 1946 . Between April and June she completed a Pacific run to Calcutta , India , and to Shanghai , China ; and , after returning to San Francisco , she entered the Maritime Commission Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay , California , in 1947 . After communist forces invaded South Korea , " Marine Adder " was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on 24 July 1950 and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) on 1 August 1950 . Staffed by a civilian crew , she carried combat troops to the Far East and arrived in Korean waters on 14 December 1950 . After returning to the west coast in mid - January 1951 , she resumed her support of the United Nations Command in Korea less than 2 months later and continued Far Eastern runs during the Korean War . Between 6 March 1951 and 5 September 1953 , she made 17 voyages out of Seattle to ports in Japan and South Korea , including Yokosuka , Sasebo , Pusan , and Inchon . After reaching San Francisco on 5 September 1953 with homeward - bound veterans of the war , she arrived Seattle on 8 September and was placed in reduced operational status . " Marine Adder " resumed MSTS service on 4 June 1954 . During the next two months she completed two runs to Japanese and Korean waters ; thence , she departed Seattle on 21 August to take part in “ Passage ‑ to ‑ Freedom ” operations along the coast of French Indochina . Steaming via Yokosuka , she arrived Haiphong on 9 September and embarked Vietnamese headed from the north to the south . Departing on 14 September , she made six runs to Vietnamese ports including Saigon and Tourane , and during the next two months carried refugees , French troops , and military cargo . She departed Vietnamese waters on 14 November , touched at Yokosuka the 21st , and reached Seattle on 6 December . She resumed reduced operational status on 14 December . On 24 December 1955 " Marine Adder " sailed again for the Far East . She reached Inchon on 11 January 1956 ; operated between Korean and Japanese ports until 21 January ; thence returned to Seattle via San Francisco on 6 February . Placed in reduced operational status on 10 February , she remained at Seattle until 3 June 1957 when she steamed to Astoria , Oregon . She entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet on 8 June 1957 and was transferred permanently to custody of the Maritime Administration ( a successor to the Maritime Commission ) on 6 June 1958 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 June 1958 . She was sold to Hudson Waterways Corp . , 4 August 1967 , converted to a cargo ship , and renamed " Transcolorado " . On 26 July 1968 , " Transcolorado " was chartered by the U . S . Navy ' s Military Sealift Command ( a successor to the Military Sea Transportation Service ) , designated as " T - AK - 2005 " , and employed for carrying cargo . " Transcolorado " was scrapped on 20 May 1988 . Awards . " Marine Adder " received eight battle star s for Korean service .