The USS Weiss (APD-135/LPR-135) was a Crosley-class high speed transport in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1970, with two short periods spent in reserve.

After completing basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he served successively at Quantico, Virginia; and at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; during the early part of 1940.

He returned to the base at Quantico briefly in June 1941 before going to sea in the transport USS McCawley at the end of the first week in July for a month's assignment.

Promoted to Corporal while in that transport, Weiss returned ashore at Portsmouth, Virginia, on 14 August 1941, and from there, moved on to duty at New River, North Carolina, in September.

Originally designated DE-719, a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, Weiss was re-designated as APD-135, a fast transport, on 17 July 1944, even before being laid down on 4 October 1944 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, in Bay City, Michigan.

Following a post-shakedown overhaul at Norfolk, Virginia, she sailed on 4 September for Melville, Rhode Island, where for the next two months she served as a training ship.

On 14 January, she began a ten-week cruise to the West Indies, returning to the United States at Morehead City, North Carolina, on the last day of March.

In April, she visited Washington, D.C., and underwent repairs, first at Charleston, South Carolina in early May and later at the New York Naval Shipyard in June.

In August, the high-speed transport served as an escort for the Presidential Yacht Williamsburg (AGC-369) when Harry S. Truman voyaged in her to Bermuda for a vacation.

The United Nations Security Council taking advantage of the Soviet boycott decided to provide military assistance to South Korea against the aggressor.

The high-speed transport spent the bulk of her first Korean War tour in bombardment and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) missions.

Following a period of upkeep and training on the west coast during the winter of 1951 and 1952, Weiss headed back to the Far East in the summer, and arrived in Korean waters on 2 July.

She also participated in "Operation Fishnet", a strategic initiative intended to drive the North Koreans into submission by depriving them of their fish catch.

Consequently, the high-speed transport settled into a peacetime routine of deployments to the western Pacific alternated with upkeep and training periods along the west coast of the United States.

The Weiss took part in "Operation Flaghoist", a huge amphibious training exercise at Iwo Jima on 23 February 1954, the 9th anniversary of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi.

Port visits, training missions, and providing evidence of American military presence in Asian waters proved to be her major responsibilities during these initial post-Korean War tours with the 7th Fleet.

The warship conducted shakedown and amphibious training during the winter of 1961 and 1962, and then settled into a normal west coast routine, operating out of San Diego.

She returned to the United States later that spring, and resumed normal operations until commencing a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul late in the year.

During the night of 26–27 July, Typhoon Flossie struck her anchorage at Okinawa, parted her anchor chain, and drove the high-speed transport into uncharted waters.

The high-speed transport completed repairs by late August, and joined a contingency force sent to Vietnamese waters as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident earlier that month.

Her first actual combat mission came on 30 November and 1 December when she landed marines near Lang Ke Ga, South Vietnam, as part of Operation Dagger Thrust IV.

Her second such mission occurred on the 5th and 6th when her embarked marines made a search-and-destroy landing near Phu Tu as a part of Operation Dagger Thrust V. On the evening of the 6th, she reembarked the troops and retired toward Subic Bay for a rest and relaxation period.

She remained there until 9 November when labor problems in the civilian yard forced her to shift to the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard to ensure timely completion of the overhaul.

Following briefings there and at An Thoi, Weiss began a series of coastal surveys to determine suitable landing beaches and canal entrances for amphibious operations.

Back off the coast of South Vietnam early in October, Weiss provided over-the-horizon support for Navy SEAL teams participating in Operation Bold Dragon VII and VIII carried out in the IV Corps tactical zone.

Back in Vietnamese waters early in December, she again provided support for Navy SEAL teams engaged in Operation Bold Dragon IX.