This ship was actually operated by the US Army. It is a little-known fact that the US Army used to operate their own fleet of ships. The Army Transport Service began in 1898, during the Spanish American War. The first US military ship sunk by the Japanese during WW-II was an Army Transport, the USAT Cynthia Olsen. It has been said that, during WW-II, the Army had more ships than the Navy did.

In 1949 the armed services were combined under the administration of a single Department of Defense. One result of that change was that, the following year, the Army Transport Service was turned over to the Navy and renamed the Military Sea Transport Service. Today it is known as the Military Sealift Command.