The USS Inca (IX-229) was originally a Liberty ship designated as SS William B. Allison, launched in March 1943 in Los Angeles, California. She was a 3,381-ton light displacement vessel constructed by the California Shipbuilding Corporation under the Emergency Shipbuilding program, with her keel laid on 8 February 1943 and launched on 10 February 1943. Named after William B. Allison, a prominent Iowa politician and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, the ship was built for the War Shipping Administration and operated by Waterman Steamship Corporation during World War II. Initially serving as a merchant vessel, William B. Allison delivered supplies to troops in the Pacific, including at Naval Base Okinawa. On 25 May 1945, she was torpedoed off Nakagusuku Wan, Okinawa, resulting in the death of eight crew members and injuries to two. Declared a total loss, she was towed into port but was deemed beyond repair. Subsequently, she was repurposed by the Navy as a non-self-propelled floating dry storage ship, accepted at Okinawa in late July 1945, and was officially named USS Inca (IX-229) in August 1945. The ship was converted for storage by USS Vestal and USS Zaniah while stationed in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. During typhoons in September and October 1945, Inca sustained damage, including being hit by a merchant ship and breaking adrift during a storm, leading her to run aground. Despite this, she continued to serve as a storage vessel into December 1945. By early 1946, she was deemed no longer required and was grounded in Buckner Bay, with plans for salvage abandoned. She was officially placed out of service in February 1946 and stricken from the Navy List in March of that year. Eventually sold for scrap to China Merchants and Engineers, Inc., in 1948, William B. Allison was dismantled in China. Her service highlights the versatile use of Liberty ships during and after WWII, transitioning from merchant service to auxiliary naval roles, and underscores the logistical challenges faced in wartime operations.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.