USS Lavaca, one of 117 Haskell-class attack transports, was built to a modified Victory ship design at Portland, Oregon, and was commissioned in December 1944. After shakedown training on the West Coast, she arrived at Pearl Harbor in February 1945 and then transported Seabees to the Philippines. Between March and August she carried troops and cargo between the Admiralty Islands and the Philippines.

After the Japanese surrender, Lavaca transported occupation troops from the Philippines to Yokohama, Japan. Between September 1945 and July 1946 she shuttled passengers from Pearl Harbor and San Francisco to Sasebo, Japan. On the eastward legs of these voyages Lavaca probably returned veterans from the war zone to the West Coast under Operation "Magic Carpet." Arriving at Norfolk, Virginia, in July 1946, she was placed out of commission in January 1947. After more than a decade as part of the Navy's reserve fleet, USS Lavaca was transferred to the Maritime Administration in September 1958 for further retention and stricken from the Navy list in October. The Maritime Administration sold her for scrapping in November 1992.