Operational History
General D. E. Aultman (AP-156) was launched 18 February 1945 under Maritime Commission contract (MC #713) by Kaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3, Richmond, California; sponsored by Mrs. Alma H. Aultman, widow of General Aultman; acquired by the Navy and commissioned 20 May 1945, Captain S. P. Swicegood, USCG, in command.
After shakedown out of San Diego, General D. E. Aultman got underway 30 June bound for France. She transited the Panama Canal and arrived Marseilles 24 July, embarking troops, nurses, and Red Cross workers for the Pacific theater. The transport sailed 26 July via the Panama Canal and found herself 1 day out of Balboa bound for New Guinea when the Japanese capitulated 15 August.
General D. E. Aultman arrived Humboldt Bay, New Guinea 4 September, and carried troops to Manila before returning to Portland 11 October 1945. She was then assigned to the "Magic-Carpet" fleet, contributing her important part to the gigantic task of returning the hundred of thousands of Pacific veterans. She made two "Magic-Carpet" voyages to the Far East before decommissioning at San Francisco 15 March 1946. She was returned to the Maritime Commission for transfer to the Army Transportation Service, serving in the Pacific.
Reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950, General D. E. Aultman joined the MSTS with a civil service crew and resumed her support of American posts in the Pacific. After the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, the transport began the vital job of transporting troops to that strategic country. The veteran ship sailed to the western Pacific until she was returned to the Maritime Commission 4 June 1958. She entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California, where she remained until sold to Containership Chartering Service of Wilmington, Delaware for commercial use in 1967 or 1968. She was converted to an 11.389 ton container ship by Willamette Iron & Steel Co. and renamed Portland in 1968. She was sold, possibly for scrapping, in October 1986.
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