Dauphin was named for a county in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem-Sparrows Point launched her on 10 June 1944 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, and Miss B. Conway sponsored her. She was a Bayfield-class attack transport. The Navy received her on 23 September 1944 and commissioned her that same day. Commander B. Connelly was in command.
On 29 October 1944 she reported at Newport to train precommissioning crews of transports and cargo ships, and that duty covered 36 ships. She cleared Newport on 20 January 1945, reached Norfolk the next day, and loaded cargo. On 13 February she headed for the Pacific. Troops and combat cargo came aboard during a Pearl Harbor stay that ran from 5 March to 29 March. Ulithi, the staging point for Okinawa, saw her on 15 April. She sailed on the 22nd and from 26 to 30 April landed reinforcements at Hagushi Beach. Casualties were aboard for a call at Saipan. San Francisco came on 22 May.
A week later the bow pointed at the Philippines. Starting 27 June, and until the fighting stopped, she loaded troops in New Guinea and landed them in the Philippines. On 26 August she left Batangas Bay, on Luzon, with occupation troops and anchored in Tokyo Bay on 2 September, the surrender day. From 4 September to 27 October she made four more voyages of the same sort, moving troops from the Philippines to Japan.
Magic Carpet work was two voyages with homebound veterans from Sasebo and from San Pedro Bay at Leyte, The window was 6 November 1945 through 17 January 1946. January's final day, still 1946, was the east-coast sailing, and Norfolk came on 17 February. Decommissioning there was on 3 April 1946. The next day she was delivered to the War Shipping Administration for disposal. One battle star was awarded.