Pondera (APA-191) served as an attack transport of the Haskell class. Kaiser at Vancouver launched her on 27 July 1944, and the Navy commissioned her on 24 September 1944.
May 1945 found her moving into Nakagusuku Wan with troops still to land. The boats would finish that discharge over two days.
She shifted into Nakagusuku Wan, and on 3 and 4 May 1945 her troops went ashore there. That night she went to the aid of Carina (AK-74). A suicide boat had damaged the cargo ship.
The two days in Nakagusuku Wan, landing troops and then standing by the damaged Carina (AK-74), were her fight in those waters. She came through the war.