Japs and NYC? Huh?
If you mean how did it start in Makassar Strait and end up in NYC, that is what made that ship famous.
“She made Tjilatjap with a forward draft of 30 feet (9.1 m), aft 22 feet (6.7 m). Unable to be docked there, her worst leaks were repaired and she put to sea again on 13 February. Some of her wounded crew were taken off the ship to be cared for by Dr Corydon M. Wassell; he received the Navy Cross for protecting them from capture by the invading Japanese. When the ship left Tjilatjap it was on the first leg of a voyage of more than 21,589 miles (34,744 km) in search of complete repairs.
Still steering with her engines, she made Trincomalee, Ceylon on 21 February. Repairs could not be made there or anywhere in India for several weeks, so Marblehead departed for South Africa on 2 March. After touching at Durban and Port Elizabeth, Marblehead arrived at Simonstown on 24 March. There she underwent extensive repairs and on 15 April, sailed for New York. Steaming via Recife, Brazil, she finally arrived in New York on 4 May, completing a journey of over 16,000 miles (26,000 km) from where she was damaged in action and immediately entered drydock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.”
If you look into that ship you will also see that she began the war fighting the Japanese and ended the war fighting the Germans.