| abstract | - USS Rankin (AKA-103/LKA-103) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship (later Rankin class amphibious cargo ship) named after Rankin County, Mississippi. Like all AKAs, Rankin was designed to transport military cargo and landing craft, and use the latter to land weapons, supplies, soldiers and Marines on enemy shores during amphibious operations. She was the 103rd of 114 ships eventually constructed for this purpose. Her construction was part of the country's emergency program for replacing the hundreds of cargo ships lost to enemy attacks during World War II. The Maritime Commission administered the program and dozens of the ships it produced were acquired by the United States Navy and converted into warships. Many of these ships would be used for amphibious warfare. Rankin's keel was laid down on 31 October 1944 at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. in Wilmington, North Carolina. She was launched 52 days later on 22 December, and commissioned in Charleston, South Carolina on 25 February 1945. She served as a commissioned warship for a total of 21 years and five months.
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