The history of the U.S.S. Neshoba

Her name, the U.S.S. Neshoba. Like most of her sister Attack Transports, she was named for a county in the United States. Neshoba county is located in the state of Mississippi, but the ship was built many miles away from there. One of the 130 ships of her class, the Neshoba was built by the Permanente Metals Corporation of Richmond, California, and launched on 7th of October, 1944. She was commissioned as a ship of the United States Navy on November 16th, 1944, being sponsored by Mrs. Wendall E. Adams of Berkeley, California, and placed in command of Commander Martin J. Drury, USN Commander Drury was later promoted to the rank of Captain. The conversion to an attack transport was made at Hunter\u27s Point Ship Yard in San Francisco. The conversion consisted of installing Navy Radio and Radar equipment, armament, adding welin-davits for landing craft, and the landing craft. At the conclusion of this conversion, the Neshoba was a fullfledged, ready to APA. From time immemorial, every Navy ship has had its shakedown cruise. The Neshoba was no exception. Her shakedown brought her from San Francisco to San Diego. It was during this coastal run that she attained her top speed of 19 knots. At San Diego, she was committed to Amphibious Training at which time the new boat crews got a feel of their craft. She acted as flagship, for Transport Squadron Thirteen whose commanding officer at that time was Commodore John G. Moyer, USN. The training was supposed to last a period of two weeks, but sudden changes in the Pacific Fleet organization made the Neshoba\u27s entrance on the scene of action very imperative and the training was cut short. She proceeded to San Pedro, California, where final repairs and checkups took place.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1149/thumbnail.jp