The ship was launched on 31 March 1943, sponsored by Mrs. W. D. Pelan, acquired by the Navy on 23 June 1943, and commissioned next day for transfer to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Henrico embarked her invasion troops on 26 May at Portland, England, and sailed on 5 June as a part of Rear Admiral John Hall's Omaha Beach Assault Force.
On the following day, 6 June, Henrico landed her troops, the 16th Regiment of the First Infantry Division,[3] in the first assault wave on the Easy Red Sector of Omaha Beach in the face of heavy seas and strong enemy fortifications.
As the assault area was secured and the advance began, Henrico stood by for shuttle duty, finally sailing for the Firth of Clyde on 19 June.
Arriving on 16 July in Naples, Henrico took part in amphibious rehearsals before departing on 13 August from Castellamare for the invasion area.
She departed Norfolk with troops and replacement boats on 13 December, steaming via the Panama Canal and San Diego to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 23 January 1945.
In the Philippines the ship engaged in amphibious exercises leading to the invasion of Okinawa, the last operation on the long island road to Japan itself.
Although Henrico quickly brought her guns to bear, the suicide bomber crashed into the bridge on the starboard side, her bombs exploding below.
She developed mechanical trouble which forced a return two days later, but repair work had her at sea again on 18 July, and by 2 August she was with the original formation as they steamed into Pusan with the vitally-needed troops.
In November Chinese troops made their appearance on a massive scale, and by December U.N. ground units in the Wonsan-Hŭngnam area were cut off.
After arriving Keelung, Formosa, on 13 February; she carried troops between the Philippines and Hong Kong before returning to San Diego on 22 April 1955.
Hereafter the ship deployed annually to the western Pacific with the 7th Fleet to engage in amphibious warfare training exercises in Korea, in Okinawa, and in the Philippines, contributing to the combat readiness of both United States Marines and the troops of SEATO members.
Henrico was diverted to the Caribbean Sea on 27 October 1962 after the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba brought a swift and strict American quarantine of the island.
On 20 January she commenced special operations in the South China Sea as the 7th Fleet joined in the intensive buildup of strength in southeast Asia.
Offloading these troops on 7 May, Henrico made a fourth passage to Okinawa to return with the headquarters unit of the 3rd Marine Division, which arrived in Chu Lai on 21 May.
Held in reserve, she was redesignated as an "amphibious transport" or "LPA" with a new hull number of LPA-45 on 1 January 1969, and finally struck from the Navy List on 1 June 1973.