USS Arcturus (AKA-1)
_underway_in_1942.jpg) |
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: | USS Arcturus |
| Namesake: | Arcturus |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 26 July 1938, as Mormachawk |
| Launched: | 18 May 1939 |
| Acquired: | 20 September 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 26 October 1940, as USS Arcturus (AK-18) |
| Decommissioned: | 3 April 1946 |
| Reclassified: | AKA-1 (attack cargo ship), 1 February 1943 |
| Struck: | 5 June 1946 |
| Fate: |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Arcturus-class attack cargo ship |
| Type: | Type C2 ship |
| Displacement: | 14,225 long tons (14,453 t) |
| Length: | 459 ft 1 in (139.93 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m) |
| Speed: | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement: | 267 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
| Operations: |
|
| Awards: | 5 battle stars |
USS Arcturus (AK-18/AKA-1) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship named after Arcturus, a star in the constellation Boötes. She served as a commissioned ship for 5 years and 5 months.
Arcturus was laid down as Mormachawk on 26 July 1938 under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 19) by the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Hull 176 at Chester, Pennsylvania. The ship was launched on 18 May 1939, sponsored by Miss Mollie Foulks Lee, and delivered to Moore McCormack Lines, Inc. on 27 July 1939. Acquired by the Navy on 20 September 1940, she was converted to a cargo ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and commissioned on 26 October 1940 as Arcturus (AK-18), with Comdr. Russell C. Bartman in command.
The cargo ship began her Navy career with two years of general auxiliary duty operating out of ports along the east coast as far north as NS Argentia, Newfoundland, and south to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In October 1942, Arcturus received orders to load landing craft and join the Western Naval Task Force (Task Force (TF) 34) in the invasion of North Africa. The cargo ship was assigned to Transport Division (TransDiv) 9 of the Center Attack Group and sailed from Hampton Roads on 24 October. Arcturus arrived off Fedhala, French Morocco, just before midnight on 7 November, with the landing scheduled for daybreak on the 8th. The ship's boats moved troops ashore at H-hour, but to facilitate unloading her cargo, she moved into the harbor later in the day just long enough to unload at the one usable pier.
...
Wikipedia