USS ''Acubens'' (AKS-5) was an ''Acubens''-class

general stores issue ship General stores issue ship is a type of ship used by the United States Navy during World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the ...

commissioned by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

for service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, named after the star Acubens, the alpha star in

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone. ''Acubens'' was laid down under a

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

contract (MCE hull 1935) as the

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

''SS Jean Louis'' on 25 November 1943 by the Delta Shipbuilding Co.,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana. Launched on 8 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. J. A. Farrington; acquired by the

on 9 February 1944; converted for naval service by Todd-Johnson Drydocks, Inc., New Orleans; and commissioned on 15 July 1944.

Service history

World War II Pacific operations

Following shakedown out of

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, and a short run to New York City, ''Acubens'' sailed for the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

on 8 September and entered the Pacific. The Acubens was part of a convoy heading for New Guinea, but had to drop out because of a main bearing burning up. After repairs, the ship dropped anchor at Hollandia,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, on 25 October and remained there until 10 November issuing stores to vessels of

Task Force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

76. On the 10th, ''Acubens'' transported a load of ammunition to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia. The ship left Australia on 13 December bound for the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and reached

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

on the 21st. ''Acubens'' remained based in the Philippines for the duration of the war. Her routine consisted of loading stores at

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...

; proceeding to

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

to load more provisions, then steaming back to the Philippines to distribute her cargo. ''Acubens'' departed the Philippines on 25 November 1945, bound via

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

for the California coast.

Decommissioning

The stores ship arrived at San Francisco on 22 December. Shortly thereafter, work was begun to prepare the ship for decommissioning. ''Acubens'' got underway on 18 January 1946 to return to Pearl Harbor, where she was to be laid up. ''Acubens'' was decommissioned on 11 March 1946. The ship was transferred to the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...

on 20 June 1947, struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 17 July 1947 and sold for scrap on 14 October 1964.PMARS Ship Record Detail – ACUBENS (AKS-5)
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References

External links

* ttp://www.usmm.org/libertyships.html Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II
Acubens-AKS-5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acubens (AKS-5) Liberty ships Acubens-class general stores issue ships Ships built in New Orleans 1944 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States