USS Ancon (AGC-4) was one of three identical ships built for the Panama Railroad Company put into operation in 1938.

[3] Ancon was delivered by the Panama Railroad Company to begin war operations with the Army Transport Service on 11 January 1942 at Balboa, Canal Zone.

[note 2] The ship sailed to San Francisco for conversion, including 1,500 bunks, required to transport troops.

[3][4] She made two voyages to Australia carrying Army Air Corps units and elements of the 32nd Infantry Division to bolster that continent's defenses; the first voyage left on 31 January 1942 headed for Brisbane, Australia from San Francisco, the second left San Francisco on 23 April 1942 bound for Adelaide and Sydney.

[3][5] On 12 September, she got underway for the Virginia Capes and, on arrival at Norfolk took on cargo and troops to transport to Baltimore, Maryland.

After pausing at Norfolk to take on more troops and equipment, she left the East Coast on 24 October, sailing for North Africa to take part in Operation Torch as the flagship of Transport Division 9, Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet.

The ship reached Oran on the 26th and spent five days discharging her cargo before heading back toward New York City, where she arrived on 13 February.

On the 16th, Ancon entered the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, to undergo conversion to a combined headquarters and communications command ship.

[3][6] On 21 April, Ancon held trials and exercises in the Chesapeake Bay through May and into early June 1943, when she was designated the flagship of Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces.

[3] Carrying Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, Commander, TF 85, and Lieutenant General Omar Bradley on board, Ancon sailed on 5 July for the waters off Sicily.

Despite enemy fire, the ship remained off Scoglitti providing communications services through the 12th and then got underway to return to North Africa.

During her periods in port, she prepared for the upcoming invasion of mainland Italy for which she had been designated flagship for the Commander of the 8th Fleet Amphibious Forces in Northwest African Waters.

During the operation, the ship carried Lieutenant General Mark Wayne Clark, who commanded the 5th Army.

Thereafter, she remained in the transport area, undergoing nearly continuous enemy air harassment, until she moved to Palermo, Sicily, to pick up ammunition to replenish her sister ships.

In mid-November, she set sail for the United Kingdom and, on 25 November, arrived in Devonport, England, where she was designated the flagship of the 11th Amphibious Force.

An extended period of repairs and preparations for the impending invasion of France kept Ancon occupied through the winter and much of the spring participating in numerous training exercises with other Allied warships.

She transferred various units of the Army command to headquarters ashore and made her small boats available to other ships to carry personnel and materials to the beachhead.

"[9] Ancon remained in British waters through late September, when she sailed in a convoy bound for the East Coast of the United States.

Ancon reached Saipan late in February 1945 and began holding rehearsals off that island and Tinian for the upcoming assault on Okinawa.

[3] On the morning of the 29th, Ancon sailed into Tokyo Bay and assumed duties as a press release ship in coordination with battleship USS Iowa (BB-61).

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, 1 Apr 45 – 3 Jun 45, Ryuku Islands Landings, Operation Iceberg, The Battle of Okinawa.