USS City of Dalhart (IX-156) was built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), delivered to the USSB in November 1920 and, after exchanging original steam engines with diesels, operated by the board's agents in Pacific trade until bareboat charter to the Navy in February 1944 by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) for the duration of the war.

Commissioned 2 June 1944 and designated unclassified miscellaneous vessel IX-156 the ship served the remainder of the war in the western Pacific.

The ship was converted to support 1,200 men with the facilities to become both the headquarters and home and advance base for the 301st Naval Construction Battalion ("Seabees") (NCB 301), a large and unique organization tasked with salvage, clearing and developing ports even as fighting continued ashore.

City of Dalhart served as the NCB 301 headquarters and main party "home" at Guam arriving at a long term anchorage 11 August 1944 just as the island was secured.

Difficulty with foreign patents required new contracting for the engines and auxiliary equipment for full conversion to a motor ship.

[7] According to Maritime Administration information the 5,878 GRT ship was completed 28 February 1921 and given official number 221006; however, it is not clear whether the new engines had been installed that quickly as they were being contracted for months before.

[11] On 2 June 1944 the ship was commissioned as USS City of Dalhart at San Francisco, California designated IX-156 to report to the Pacific Fleet.

[14][13] Advance elements of NCB 301, arriving at Pearl Harbor 1 May 1944, had encamped at Aiea, Hawaii with detachments still in the Atlantic and others bringing large dredges to the Pacific areas.

The integration, including mess facilities, of previously land based Construction Battalion into ship operations was a successful experiment.

[13][note 3] After several tentative movement orders City of Dalhart departed Pearl Harbor 16 July 1944 with men and additional equipment of NCB 301 aboard.

[4][18] William Ward Burrows, ServRon 12's flagship with the commanding officer of NCB 301 embarked, had arrived earlier and elements of the battalion were already engaged in clearing wreckage and developing an anchorage.

[19] The new base for NCB 301 joined that work immediately unloading equipment, putting the battalion dredges into operation and salvaging Japanese small craft for their own use.