USS Trousdale was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship laid down on April 22, 1944 and launched on July 3, the same year. It was commissioned on December 21, 1944 under Lt. Comdr. William J. Lane’s command and served in the US Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on April 29, 1946. It carried a complement of 395 men on board. During the World War II, the ship operated in Bayonne, Hawaii, Panama, Marshall Islands, Ulithi or Okinawa. After the decommissioning, USS Trousdale was struck from the Navy List on May 8, 1946. Later, the ship was sold to Waterman Steamship Corporation where it was renamed SS Lafayette.