USNS Sergeant George D. Keathley, a 6090-ton (full load displacement) coastal troop transport, was built under a World War II Maritime Administration contract at Duluth, Minnesota. Originally named Alexander R. Niniger, Jr., this C1-M-AV1 type freighter was renamed Acorn Knot in February 1945 and completed in late March of that year. In July 1946, after operating as a civilian ship in the Atlantic and Caribbean, she was transferred to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps, who employed her as a cargo ship in the Ryukyu Islands until May 1948. The ship was then converted to a troopship and, in March 1949, renamed Sergeant George D. Keathley. She returned to the Far East a month later and began service carrying military passengers.

At the beginning of July 1950 Sergeant George D. Keathley was transferred to the newly-established Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and designated T-APC-117 under the Navy's hull number system. For the next three years she was kept busy carrying men and cargo to support Korean War operations, as well as making trips to Okinawa and Formosa from her base in Japan. After the Korean Armistice of July 1953, Sergeant George D. Keathley spent two more years in the western Pacific. She was moved to the Atlantic in 1955 and, in December 1956, turned over to the Maritime Administration and laid up.

The Navy again acquired Sergeant George D. Keathley in December 1966. Converted to a surveying ship and redesignated T-AGS-35, she began service with MSTS in the Atlantic. She continued her scientific work until December 1971, when she began inactivation preparations. USNS Sergeant George D. Keathley was transferred to the Republic of China in March 1972. Under the name Chu Hua, she served in Taiwan's navy as a hydrographic ship until August 1988, when she was returned to the United States. The old ship was subsequently used as a target.