Custer (APA-40) served as an attack transport of the Bayfield class. Ingalls at Pascagoula launched her on 6 November 1942.
She waited in reserve while the invasion at Kwajalein went forward. On 19 February 1944 she sent her troops onto Eniwetok and took casualties aboard.
She ferried troops and lifted wounded for the Saipan assault and the Guam assault, shuttling out to Eniwetok. On 7 August 1944 she was back at Pearl Harbor.
At Leyte she landed on 20 and 21 October 1944 and again on 18 November. In Lingayen Gulf her landings ran from 9 January through 12 January 1945. On 29 January she landed at La Paz in the Zambales and Subic Bay operation.
On 27 March 1945 she departed Leyte Gulf, bound for the invasion at Okinawa. Six battle stars stand on her wartime record. She was decommissioned on 24 May 1946.