USNS Sgt . Joseph E . Muller ( T - AG - 171 ) USNS " Sgt . Joseph E . Muller " ( T - AG - 171 / T - APC - 118 ) was a " Sgt . Jonah E . Kelly " - class cargo ship constructed during the final months of World War II . As USAT " Sgt . Joseph E . Muller " she was used by the U . S . Army for World War II cleanup operations . She was again commissioned – this time for the United States Navy – and assigned to Korean War supply and transport operations , earning nine battle star s . She was again place back in service in 1962 as one of the civilian crewed , Auxiliary General ( AG ) , technical research ship s working on National Security Agency / Naval Security Group missions , based out of Florida . She was finally declared surplus to needs in 1969 and struck . Built in Savannah , Georgia . " Sgt . Joseph E . Muller " was laid down under U . S . Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 2485 ) as " Check Knot " on 30 December 1944 by the Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation , Savannah , Georgia ; launched on 17 February 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs . D . R . Williams ; delivered to the Maritime Commission ' s Shipping Administration on 9 June 1945 for operation by the Waterman Steamship Company . World War II - related U . S . Army service . Returned to the Maritime Commission and transferred to the U . S . War Department for operation by the Army ' s transportation service after the end of World War II , " Check Knot " was renamed " Sgt . Joseph E . Mutter " and was operated in support of occupation forces in Japan and Korea . Korean War service with the Navy . In late 1949 , the Navy - operated Military Sea Transportation Service ( now Military Sealift Command ) was established ; and , in July 1950 , the ship was transferred to that organization . Through the Korean War , she continued to shuttle passengers and cargo — primarily to Japan and Korea , but with an occasional run to Okinawa , Taiwan , and the Philippines . In the spring of 1955 , she sailed east , arriving in Hawaii for repairs in mid - May , and at New York City in late June for operations out of that port . Initially slated for Arctic resupply missions , she was transferred temporarily and in ready status to the Maritime Administration ' s National Defense Reserve Fleet ( NDRF ) , Hudson River berthing area , in December 1956 , and , in September 1957 , was declared surplus to the needs of the Navy . The following month , she was returned to the Navy and , on 25 October , was permanently transferred to the NDRF and laid up with the Hudson River unit . Reactivated as a signals intelligence ship . Just under five years later , in August 1962 , " Sgt . Joseph E , Mutter " was designated for activation , conversion to a research support ship , a cover for signals intelligence operations , and redelivery to the Navy . On 1 October , reactivation and conversion was begun at the Maryland Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company , Baltimore , Maryland ; on 30 October , she was reinstated on the Navy List as USNS " Sgt . Joseph E . Mutter " ( T - AG - 171 ) . A week later , the ship was towed to New Orleans , Louisiana , for further alterations . In April 1963 , she arrived at Port Everglades , Florida , where she took up duties as one of three Military Sea Transportation Service operated technical research ship s classed as Miscellaneous Auxiliary ( AG ) , designated at the time simply " special project ships , " for National Security Agency / Naval Security Group operating out of Port Everglades to the Caribbean under the general cover of oceanographic or atmospheric research operations . Honors and awards . During the Korean War , Sgt . Joseph E . Muller participated in the following campaigns : Final inactivation . On 16 September 1969 , the ship was again declared surplus ; and , on 13 November , she was transferred back to the NDRF for berthing in the James River . Her name was struck from the Navy List on the same date .