Kenton was of the VC2-S-AP5
Victory ship design type and was named for
Kenton County, Kentucky. She was launched 21 August 1944 by the
California Shipbuilding Corporation,
Wilmington, Los Angeles, under a
United States Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Paul A. Everett; acquired by the Navy 31 October on a loan charter basis; and commissioned 1 November at San Pedro. Following shakedown along the
California coast,
Kenton departed
Seattle 27 December carrying some 1,500
Army troops to
Pearl Harbor, arriving 4 January 1945. After amphibious training maneuvers to prepare for operations in the western
Pacific, she cleared Pearl Harbor 18 February with troops and equipment for the
Philippines on board and arrived
Leyte Gulf via
Eniwetok and the
Palaus 10 March. After landing rehearsals,
Kenton departed Leyte 27 March to participate in the
Okinawa invasion. She reached
Kerama Retto 1 April, unloaded
Seabee construction equipment, and proceeded 3 April to
Hagushi Beach,
Okinawa, to discharge troops and cargo. During an air attack 6 April, ''Kenton's'' guns claimed two of the seven enemy planes that were shot down. She completed unloading 9 April, embarked 95 battle casualties, and sailed 10 April for
Guam, arriving on 14 April. She sailed 16 April on a cargo run to the Philippines, then proceeded to
Ulithi,
Western Carolines, 29 April to embark casualties for passage to the United States. Returning to Guam 24 May, she embarked additional casualties and proceeded the next day en route to
San Francisco, where she arrived 12 June.
Kenton departed San Francisco 6 July with troop replacements for the Philippines. She reached
Tacloban,
Leyte, 29 July; cleared
Leyte Gulf 1 August; and returned to Seattle 19 August. Embarking occupation troops for
Japan she sailed 29 August, via the Philippines to
Yokohama, arriving 24 September. As a unit of the
"Magic-Carpet" fleet, she took on board 1,527 homebound troops; departed 29 September; and arrived San Francisco 10 October. After two additional "Magic-Carpet" cruises to the western Pacific between 28 October and 26 January 1946,
Kenton departed Portland, Oreg., 28 January for the
East Coast. Sailing via San Francisco and the
Panama Canal, she arrived
Newport News 16 February, decommissioned at
Portsmouth, Virginia, 28 March and transferred to the Maritime Commission the next day. Her name was struck from the
Navy List 12 April.
Kenton was placed in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet and in 1967 was berthed in
James River, Virginia. == Fate ==