USS Auburn ( AGC - 10 ) USS " Auburn " ( AGC - 10 ) was a " Mount McKinley " - class amphibious force command ship , named after Mount Auburn , northwest of Cambridge , Massachusetts . She was designed as an amphibious force flagship , a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large - scale operations . Commissioning . Laid down as " Katkay " under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1351 ) on 14 August 1943 at Wilmington , N . C . , by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company ; launched on 19 October 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Julia Raney ; acquired by the Navy on 31 January 1944 ; converted at Hoboken , New Jersey , New Jersey , N . J . , by the Bethlehem Steel Co . , for naval service as an amphibious force flagship ; renamed " Auburn " and designated AGC - 10 ; and placed in commission at Hoboken , New Jersey on 20 July 1944 , Capt . Ralph Orsen Myers in command . 1944 . After conducting shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay , the command ship left Norfolk , Va . , on 17 August and shaped a course for the Pacific . She transited the Panama Canal on the 23d and continued on to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , where she arrived on 6 September . Three days later , " Auburn " became the flagship for Commander , Amphibious Group 2 , Pacific Fleet . On 29 September , she entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for an availability . During this time , major alterations were made to her flag bridge , additional evaporators were installed , and other minor repairs were completed . 1945 . In mid - November , the ship began a series of training exercises off Maui in preparation for the invasion of the Volcano Islands . " Auburn " left Hawaii on 27 January 1945 , made port calls at Eniwetok and Saipan , and finally reached Tinian in early February . There she began final rehearsals for the assault on Iwo Jima . The actual landings on that island commenced on the 19th . During the operation , the ship coordinated and directed the movements of several hundred ships attached to Amphibious Group 2 . She remained off Iwo Jima until 27 March ; then headed for Pearl Harbor and a well earned period of rest and recreation for her crew . " Auburn " remained in Hawaiian waters until 15 May , when she got underway for Okinawa . The ship arrived there on the 31st and became the flagship for 5th Amphibious Forces . She controlled operations of ships off that bitterly contested island and escaped damage despite frequent Japanese air attacks . Okinawa was declared secure on 21 June , and " Auburn " got underway for Pearl Harbor on 1 July . Post - War . Shortly after her arrival at Pearl Harbor , " Auburn " entered a drydock to undergo repairs . While the work was in progress , Japan capitulated on 15 August . Four days later , the ship left Hawaii and steamed toward the Philippines . After reaching Luzon , she remained in port at Manila for approximately one month . She departed that port on 14 September and set a course for Japan via Eniwetok and Buckner Bay , Okinawa . The ship dropped anchor at Sasebo , Japan , on 20 September . Three days later , " Auburn " got underway for Nagasaki . While there , the vessel played an important part in establishing ship - to - shore communications and arranging facilities for occupation troops . On 25 September , the ship arrived at Wakayama and began assisting forces in the occupation of Osaka , Kyoto , and other large cities to the north . In early October , she moved to Yokohama . Her occupation duty ended on 12 October , when she left Japanese waters and headed back to the United States . " Auburn " reached Pearl Harbor on 21 October and remained there a few days before continuing on eastward . She entered San Francisco Bay on 31 October . The ship reversed her course on 5 November and headed back to Hawaii . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 14 November and picked up several hundred military passengers for transportation to Norfolk , Virginia . The ship left Pearl Harbor that same day and set a course for the Panama Canal Zone . After retransiting the canal on 29 November , " Auburn " finally reached Norfolk on 7 December . Three days after her arrival at Norfolk , " Auburn " became the flagship for Commander , Training Command , Atlantic Fleet . This assignment continued until January 1947 , when the vessel was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She underwent inactivation preparations at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard , Portsmouth , Virginia . " Auburn " was placed out of commission , in reserve , on 7 May 1947 . Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 1 July 1960 , and she was transferred in November 1960 to the Maritime Administration for disposal . The ship was sold in 1961 and scrapped .