Service history
On 22 September 1943, Admiral Chester Nimitz (CinCPac), approved the request by Vice Admiral John Henry Towers (ComAirPac), for the acquisition of five "General Stores Issues Ships" for use in the Central and South Pacific theaters. The Auxiliary Vessels Board noted that there were two cargo ships in New York, that would be acceptable, MS City of Elwood and MS Ward, though they were described as being little more than hulks and in very poor material condition with unreliable engines".
It was recommended that they be converted before sailing for the Pacific, by having shelves, cribbing, and bins, installed for the storage of aviation supplies, along with a makeshift aircraft engine de-preservation room, and facilities the for crating both engines and other aviation equipment.
Ward sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 25 November 1943, after calling at Norfolk, Virginia, and Oakland, California, to load aviation material. Upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor, the ship was to be allocated to the Navy, on a bare-boat basis, by the War Shipping Administration (WSA).
The ship entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for repairs, alterations, and conversion, into an auxiliary aviation supply ship. Ward would be expected to store and direct issue aviation supplies in forward areas. While she was expected to remain stationary most of the time, she would also be expected to move under her own power to other bases. Because she was expected to have long periods of immobility, her naval crew would be kept to a minimum.
Ward was acquired by the Navy, at Pearl Harbor, on 5 February 1944, and commissioned on 8 February 1944, as Supply (IX-147).
Supply departed Pearl Harbor, on 25 March, for Majuro, Marshall Islands, to replenish aircraft carriers for further strikes west of those islands. After the fleet sailed, Supply steamed to Roi-Namur, on 22 April, and operated as a floating aviation supply depot there until early July.
Supply sailed for Pearl Harbor, on 7 July, where she underwent extensive alterations to enable her to double the amount of stores that could be kept in a ready-for-issue status. The ship sailed for Yap, Caroline Islands, to assist in setting up an aviation supply depot there. Pending the military operation against the island, the supply ship was routed to Peleliu, via Funafuti, Tulagi, and Manus, arriving on 14 October, the day the island was declared secure. As she could not anchor there, Supply moved up to Kossol Passage. The ship remained there for a month supplying Marine Air Group 11 (MAG 11) with aircraft stores. On 15 November, she steamed to the fleet anchorage at Ulithi, where she assisted PBM tenders and MAG 45 for several weeks. At this time it was decided that Yap was to be bypassed, and the ship's destination was changed to Guam.
Supply arrived at Guam, on 7 December 1944, and by 7 February 1945, had stripped herself of all supplies. She returned to Roi, to replenish, and then sailed for Saipan, on 3 March. Her next mission was to assist in establishing an aviation supply depot at Okinawa. However, due to the kamikaze attacks on the fleet there, it was decided to retain the ship in the Mariana Islands until the island was secured. On 25 May, Supply was redesignated from "Unclassified Miscellaneous" IX-147 to "Aviation Supply Issues Ship" AVS-1.
Supply finally sailed for Okinawa, on 8 July, and arrived there a week later. She first discharged her top-loaded cargo to seaplane tenders and then began transferring bulk stores to the beaches. The ship was at Okinawa when hostilities with Japan ceased. She remained there until 3 November, when she weighed anchor enroute to the United States, via Pearl Harbor.
United States
