After making two such passages, she returned to
Boston, Massachusetts, 22 December 1941 to take part in additional training exercises. With America then in the war,
Harry Lee spent the next 18 months in amphibious maneuvers in the
Caribbean area. During this time the ship carried out many valuable experiments with
landing craft and boat control procedures, all of which bore fruit in the dangerous months to come.
Supporting the North Africa invasion Returning to Boston 6 April 1943,
Harry Lee was designated for use in the upcoming offensive in the
Mediterranean, and sailed 8 June for
Algeria. She anchored at
Oran 22 June to prepare for the landing and found herself off the southwest coast of
Sicily 10 July with Vice Admiral Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force. During this giant invasion
Harry Lee debarked her troops through the heavy surf at
Scoglitti and withstood several Axis air attacks before retiring 2 days later.
Transferred to the Pacific Fleet After the success of the Sicilian operation, the transport returned
German prisoners of war to the
United States, arriving Norfolk 3 August. It was then decided that her amphibious prowess was needed in the Pacific, and she sailed 24 August for
Wellington, New Zealand, via the
Panama Canal and
San Francisco, California, arriving 12 October 1943. At Wellington
Harry Lee loaded Marines in preparation for the big push of the invasion of the
Gilbert Islands.
The invasion of Tarawa She proceeded to
Efate,
New Hebrides, 1 – 7 November, and for the next few weeks held amphibious practice landings in preparation for the landings on
Tarawa. The transport departed for Tarawa 13 November, and arrived offshore 20 November. There she launched her Marines onto the bloody beaches, under threat of
submarine attack and air attack and sailed the next day for
Pearl Harbor.
Invasion of the Marshall Islands Harry Lee participated in rehearsal landings in
Hawaiian waters after her arrival at
Pearl Harbor 7 December 1943, and sailed 23 January 1944 for the invasion of the
Marshall Islands, next step on the island road to Japan. She arrived off
Kwajalein 31 January. She effectively carried out her role in this complicated operation by landing troops on two small islands in the
atoll; they met little opposition.
Harry Lee remained off
Kwajalein until departing for
Funafuti 5 February. From there she sailed to
Noumea 24 February and by 14 March was anchored off
Guadalcanal to load troops and continue her amphibious preparations.
New Guinea operations After carrying troops to
Bougainville and
New Guinea in April,
Harry Lee sailed to
Aitape,
New Guinea, under Rear Admiral Barbey for the
Hollandia operation. She arrived 23 April after the initial assault, unloaded her troops, and proceeded to bring reinforcements from other points in
New Guinea to the landing area. This accomplished, the transport arrived
Espiritu Santo 11 May.
Landing troops on Guam Harry Lee was next to take part in the invasion of the
Marianas. After landing operations conducted around
Guadalcanal the ship sailed to
Kwajalein and got underway in convoy for
Guam 12 June. During this gigantic operation, in which troops were projected over 1,000 miles of ocean from the nearest advance base,
Harry Lee was held in reserve for the
Guam landings. She arrived off
Agat, Guam, 21 July 1944 and debarked her troops. The transport then remained offshore loading and relanding troops for tactical purposes until 25 July, when she steamed with her fellow transports to
Eniwetok. They arrived 29 July, and 2 days later sailed for
Pearl Harbor.
Overhaul, and then to the Philippines Arriving Pearl Harbor 7 August 1944,
Harry Lee set course for
California and a much-needed overhaul. She arrived
San Pedro, Los Angeles, 18 August and remained in
California until departing 21 October with troops for
Seeadler Harbor,
Manus. Until 31 December the ship conducted practice landings in
New Guinea and the
Solomons for the upcoming invasion of
Luzon, and departed the last day of 1944 for
Lingayen Gulf. En route, Japanese planes attacked the
task force savagely with suicide planes and bombers, but
Harry Lee by effective gunfire and luck escaped damage. She entered
Lingayen Gulf 9 January 1945 and began landing troops under constant air alert. That night the transports retired off the beaches under smoke screens, returning next day to resume the dangerous job of landing supplies.
Harry Lee sailed 10 January for
Leyte Gulf, anchoring 14 January.
Iwo Jima, her last amphibious operation With troops ashore at
Lingayen,
Harry Lee departed 19 January for
Ulithi and arrived 2 days later. She soon was back in action, however, sailing 17 February for
Iwo Jima and her last amphibious operation of the war. The transport arrived via
Guam 22 February, 3 days after the initial landings, and after sending a reconnaissance unit ashore 24 February disembarked her troops. The ship remained off Iwo Jima until 6 March acting as a hospital evacuation vessel. She then sailed with casualties to
Saipan 6 – 9 March.
Harry Lee spent the rest of her time in the Pacific transporting troops and supplies, as the American thrust at Japan neared its final phase. She touched at
Tulagi,
Noumea,
New Guinea, Manus, and the
Philippines, bringing reinforcements and vitally needed supplies. The ship was at
Leyte Gulf 20 July when ordered back to the
United States, and she arrived for a brief stay 8 August. It was during this time that news of Japan's surrender reached the veteran transport.
End-of-war activity The ship reached
Manila 16 September at aid in the occupation of Japan, and after loading troops at various points in the Philippines arrived
Tokyo Bay 13 October 1945. Assigned to
Operation Magic Carpet, and the huge job of bringing American veterans home from the Pacific,
Harry Lee arrived San Francisco 4 November, and made another round trip to the Philippines and back, arriving 20 January 1946. From San Francisco she sailed 23 January for New York, via Norfolk. == Post-war decommissioning == The ship arrived 9 February 1946 and decommissioned at
Brooklyn Navy Yard 9 May 1946. After a period in
Reserve Fleet, she was sold to
Turkey in April 1948. The ship was renamed
Tarsus and became very popular under the control of her first Captain,
Sait Özege. The
Tarsus later fell victim to a rare three-ship collision in the
Bosporus after being struck by the burning Yugoslav-flagged tanker ship
Peter Zoranic on 14 December 1960. As a result, the vessel was sold to
Italy for scrap on 6 November 1961. == Military awards and honors ==