The transport vessel Leonard Wood (AP-25), formerly called the Nutmeg State and Western World, was built in 1922 and renamed Leonard Wood after being purchased by the War Department in 1939. After serving with the Army, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 3 June 1941. Manned by the U.S. Coast Guard and commanded by Commander H.G. Bradbury, the Leonard Wood was commissioned into service on 10 June 1941.
After training off North Carolina, the Leonard Wood sailed in support of British outposts in the Far East, including Bombay and Singapore. After off-loading her cargo, she returned to the United States where she was converted to an attack transport and, on 1 February 1943, redesignated APA-12. Following her conversion, the Leonard Wood departed Virginia on 24 October 1943 in route to French Morroco with nearly 1,900 soldiers aboard. In early November, she offloaded her troops and assisted the rescue of survivors from her torpedoed sister ships while simultaneously providing naval gunfire in support of Allied operations in the region. Beginning on 12 November, however, enemy submarines forced the transports to offload at a different destination and the Leonard Wood finally left the area on 17 November, returning to Norfolk, Virginia on 30 November 1943.
The Leonard Wood joined Task Force 65 for the invasion of Sicily, and disembarked her troops 5 1/2 miles west of Socglitti, Sicily on 9 July 1943. She also provided antiaircraft support against enemy bombers and helped down three enemy planes. After the Sicily operation, the Leonard Wood returned to the United States and was eventually redeployed to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she arrived on 27 September 1943.
Throughout the remainder of World War II, the Leonard Wood took part in several amphibious landings, including the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Saipan, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, and Angaur Island. The Leonard Wood's last amphibious operation of the war involved her support of the assault on Mindoro Island on 9 February 1945. She then steamed for Hawaii, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 27 March 1945.
After repairs at San Francisco, the Leonard Wood took part in three transport runs, the first two from the United States to Manila, and later from the United States to Tokyo. The Leonard Wood was decommissioned on 22 March 1946 and later sold for scrap on 20 January 1948.