History | |
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Name |
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Namesake |
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Ordered |
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Laid down | 19 October 1942 |
Launched | 2 February 1943 |
Commissioned | 31 March 1944 |
Decommissioned | 17 June 1946 |
Stricken | 17 July 1946 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1965 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 4,023 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(fl) |
Length | 441 ft 7 in (134.59 m) |
Beam | 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m) |
Draught | 27 ft 7 in (8.41 m) |
Propulsion | reciprocating steam engine, single shaft, 2,500hp |
Speed | 11 kts |
Endurance | 17,000 miles |
Complement | 195 |
Armament |
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USS Volans (AKS-9) was an Acubens-class general stores issue ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
Liberty ship SS Edward Preble was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 772) on 19 October 1942 at South Portland, Maine, by the New England Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 2 February 1943; sponsored by Miss Beverly Brown; renamed Volans and designated AKS-9 on 13 November 1943; and acquired by the Navy on 2 December 1943. Taken to the Tampa Bay Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Volans was converted for naval service at that yard, the work lasting into the following year. On 31 March 1944, Volans (AKS-9) was commissioned at Tampa, Florida.
Following her shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay and post-shakedown availability at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Volans loaded her initial cargo and got underway for the Panama Canal Zone on 11 May 1944. After transiting the Panama Canal, the stores issue ship experienced a two-day layover at Balboa, on the Pacific Ocean side of the isthmian waterway, before she sailed on 28 May for the New Hebrides Islands.
Over the next year, Volans performed a vital service to the fleet as a stores issue ship. In the course of her duties, she traveled from port to port, unescorted, proceeding independently from locales ranging from the Solomon Islands to the Carolines; and from the Palaus to the Admiralties. Ports of call included Guadalcanal; Tulagi; Emirau (Green Islands); Noumea, New Caledonia; the Russell Islands; Munda, New Georgia; Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides; Finschhafen and Hollandia, New Guinea; Manus; Ulithi; Kossol Roads; Peleliu; and the islands of Guam and Saipan. In addition, she also operated for a time out of Leyte in the Philippines.
Volans provided stores to the ships that took part in the initial carrier air strikes on Tokyo in January 1945 and to the ships that took part in landing operations at places such as Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Philippines. She serviced some 1,302 ships and facilities, filling 30,454 requisitions comprising an approximate 137,000 items. While at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, from 23 March to 5 April 1945, Volans experienced her busiest service. During that period, she issued supplies on a 24-hour basis, supporting the efforts to secure the Philippines and also to take Okinawa.
On 10 July 1945, Volans departed Ulithi for Seattle, Washington, and shipyard availability and arrived at her destination on 31 July. She was still under overhaul at the time of the Japanese surrender in mid-August and at the time of the formal surrender in Tokyo Bay in early September. On 25 September, Volans sailed for Okinawa and arrived there on 19 October.
Volans subsequently returned to Pearl Harbor in November and remained there until decommissioned on 17 June 1946. Towed to San Francisco, California, for disposal, the former stores issue ship was delivered to the Maritime Commission at Suisun Bay, California, on 24 June 1947 and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 17 July of the same year. Disposition: scrapped in 1965.
Volans’ crew members were eligible for the following medals:
USS Akutan (AE-13) was a Lassen-class ammunition ship commissioned in the United States Navy. She was laid down on 20 June 1944 at Tampa, Fla., by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 17 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Rosswell B. Daggett, the wife of Capt. Daggett, USN, the supervisor of shipbuilding at Tampa; and commissioned on 15 February 1945. She was named after Akutan Island, an active volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
USS Sigsbee (DD-502), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee (1845–1923).
The second USS Gridley (DD-380) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers in the United States Navy. She was the second US Navy ship named for Charles Vernon Gridley. She served with distinction in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War and shared in the sinking of a Japanese submarine.
USS Talita (AKS-8), an Acubens-class stores ship, is the only ship of the United States Navy to have this name.
The second USS Whippet (IX-129), an Armadillo-class tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the whippet. Her keel was laid down on 31 October 1943 at New Orleans, Louisiana, by the Delta Shipbuilding Company under a Maritime Commission contract. She was launched on 15 December 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Will Camp Sealy, delivered to the Navy on 13 January 1944, and commissioned on 14 January 1944.
USS Acubens (AKS-5) was an Acubens-class general stores issue ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after the star Acubens, the alpha star in Cancer. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Rutilicus (AK-113) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
USS Zaurak (AK-117) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Sabik (AK-121) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Phobos (AK-129) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Ascella (AK-137) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. Ascella was named after Ascella, a star in the constellation Sagittarius. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
USS Allegan (AK-225) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Castor (AKS-1) was a Castor-class general stores issue ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
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USS Kochab (AKS-6) was an Acubens-class general stores issue ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone. The vessel was constructed by Delta Shipbuilding Co. of New Orleans, Louisiana, and launched on 8 March 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract. After being acquired the U.S. Navy, the vessel was converted into a general stores ship and entered service on 4 November 1944. Kochab supported American operations in the Pacific Theater, sailing between US bases on Pacific islands. Following the war's end, Kochab sailed to the US with returning personnel and operated along the United States West Coast before being decommissioned on 17 April 1946. The vessel was then placed in reserve. Kochab was sold for scrap in 1965.
USS Luna (AKS-7) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was originally named for Harriet Hosmer, a neoclassical sculptor, considered the first female professional sculptor. She was converted shortly after completion to an Acubens-class general stores issue ship and renamed Luna, the latin name for the Moon. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
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This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .