An assessment of the then unknown effects of atomic weaponry upon a naval fleet was a high postwar priority, resulting in the formation of a Joint Task Force to plan and execute atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. Known as Operation Crossroads, these tests were to be conducted on a large array of unmanned target ships to determine the effects of atomic explosions on a variety of vessel types.
The need for these specialized attack transports had largely evaporated, and because their cargo carrying capacity and endurance was limited the Maritime Commission had no use for them in the peacetime merchant fleet. Consequently many were allocated to the atomic tests as their type possessed characteristics typical of the naval auxiliary fleet at that time.