USS Pyro (AE-1)

USS Pyro (AE-1)
History
United States
Laid down:	9 August 1918
Launched:	16 December 1919
Commissioned:	10 August 1920 1 July 1939
Decommissioned:	10 September 1924 12 June 1946
Struck:	3 July 1946
Fate:	scrapped
General characteristics
Displacement:	Light: 7,025 tons Full load: 10,600 tons
Length:	482 ft 9 in (147 m)
Beam:	60 ft 11 in (18.6 m)
Draught:	20 ft 11 in (6.4 m)
Armament:	2 × single 5 in (130 mm) 38 caliber guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm) 50 caliber guns 4 × 40 mm guns

The first USS Pyro (AE–1), an ammunition ship, was laid down 9 August 1918 at the Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Wash.; launched 16 December 1919; sponsored by Mrs. G. A. Bissett, wife of Comdr. Bissett, the Construction Officer at Puget Sound Navy Yard; and commissioned 10 August 1920, Comdr. John Sisson Graham in command.

After shakedown Pyro was assigned to the Naval Transportation Service. She departed Puget Sound 18 September 1920 on her first voyage to the east coast, arriving New York one month later. Her principal operations were conducted between ports which extended from Puget Sound on the west coast to as far north as Boston on the east coast. Her most frequent ports of call included Mare Island, San Francisco, San Pedro, San Diego, Balboa, Guantanamo Bay, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and New York. Besides ammunition and explosives, she also carried general cargo and some passengers.

By April 1924 Pyro completed five additional runs to the east coast from California ports. Her Pacific operations took her as far as the Philippine Islands. Upon return from the east coast 22 April 1924 she put in at Bremerton and decommissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard 10 September.

Pyro, recommissioned 1 July 1939, Comdr. Robert Stevenson Haggart in command. Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, she resumed transport of ammunition, general cargo, and passengers, making five voyages to the east coast and five to Pearl Harbor by August 1941. She was assigned to Commander, Base Force, Train Squadron 8, Pacific Fleet 22 August 1941. Departing Mare Island I October, she arrived Pearl Harbor one week later to commence operations in the Hawaiian area.