 She was launched on 11 July 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Darryl F. Zanuck, delivered to the Navy on 7 November 1944, and commissioned on 8 November 1944 with Lieutenant Commander B. Hartley, USNR, in command.The ship was named after a county in east central Texas about 60 miles due east of Austin.Following shakedown training out of San Diego, California, and post-shakedown repairs at Terminal Island, the attack transport got underway for the southwestern Pacific on 17 January 1945.