USNS Asterion

The SS Arcadia Victory was a Victory ship built during World War II for cargo shipping. She was launched by the California Shipbuilding Company on 1 July 1944 and completed on 22 September 1944. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2- S- AP3, hull number 41.

History
United States
Name	SS Arcadia Victory
Namesake	Arcadia, California
Owner	War Shipping Administration
Operator	American President Lines
Builder	California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles California.
Laid down	10 June 1944
Launched	27 July 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. James T Wishart
Completed	22 September 1944
Decommissioned	1952
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Navy, 12 November 1961
United States
Name	USNS Asterion
Owner	U.S. Navy MSTS, (MSC).
Operator	U.S. Navy MSTS, (MSC).
Acquired	7 November 1961
Notes	Converted to refrigerated store ship, 1961
In service	September 1962
Out of service	8 June 1973
Stricken	15 June 1973
Fate	Sold for scrap, 31 August 1973
General characteristics
Class and type	VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship
Tonnage	7612 GRT, 4,553 NRT
Displacement	15,200 tons
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draught	28 ft (8.5 m)
Installed power	8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion	HP & LP turbines geared to a single 20.5-foot (6.2 m) propeller
Speed	16.5 knots
Boats & landing craft carried	4 Lifeboats
Complement	62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards
Armament	1 × 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber gun 1 × 3 inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon
Notes

In 1961 she was rebuilt as a Denebola-class stores ship and renamed USNS Asterion (T-AF-63). Her task was to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet, and to remote stations and staging areas.

War

Arcadia Victory served in both World War II and the Korean War as cargo ship.

Pre-recommissioning activity

The second vessel to be named Asterion by the US Navy, AF-63 was laid down under a United States Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 41) on 10 June 1944 at Los Angeles, California, by the California Shipbuilding Corporation., as Arcadia Victory. Launched on 27 July 1944 and sponsored by Mrs. James T. Wishart, Arcadia Victory was delivered to her operators, the American President Lines (APL), on 3 September 1944. She operated under the APL shipping line's flag until laid up late in 1952.

Acquired by the Navy

Removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet berthing area at Suisun Bay, California, on 7 November 1961, Arcadia Victory was acquired by the US Navy from the United States Maritime Commissionon 12 November 1961. Renamed Asterion and classified as a store ship, AF-63, on 4 December 1961, the ship was taken to the Willamette Iron and Steel Company. of Portland, Oregon, where she underwent conversion to a refrigerated stores ship.

Assigned to MSTS

Placed in service with the US Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service, (MSTS) (later Military Sealift Command, (MSC) in September 1962 as USNS Asterion (T-AF-63), the ship operated in the MSTS (later, MSC), Pacific Area, delivering fresh and frozen foods to Pacific and Far Eastern ports. On 5 June 1963, Asterion suffered minor damage to her bow in a collision off San Francisco, California, with the Japanese freighter MV Kokoku Maru. The USCGC Magnolia (WLB-328) from US Coast Guard Base Yerba Buena Island San Francisco California responded to the vessels distress calls and provided assistance for both ships. The MV Kokoku Maru sustained heavy damage, and the USCGC Magnolia (WLB-328) evacuated 19 her crew to San Francisco California.

Carrying "everything from steak and spuds, to mobile cranes and dynamite," Asterion; the winner of the MSTS "Smart Ship Award" in 1967, operated in the Pacific Ocean for the next decade; her ports of call ranged from Settahip, Thailand, and Saigon, South Vietnam, to Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, and Yokohama. As American involvement in the Vietnam War grew, Asterion's itinerary included the ports of Qui Nhon, Cam Ranh Bay, and Danang.

Decommissioning

Asterion arrived at Yokohama on 8 June 1973 from her last voyage as a "reefer ship" and her name was struck from the Navy list on 15 June 1973. Transferred, at Yokohama Japan, to the Maritime Administration for disposal, she was sold to N. W. Kennedy, Ltd., of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 31 August 1973. Resold to Far Eastern shipbreakers for scrapping in 1973.

See also

• List of United States Navy ships
• Cargo ship
• List of Victory ships
• Liberty ship
• Type C1 ship
• Type C2 ship
• Type C3 ship

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

US Department of Homeland Security. United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/

External links

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive – T-AF-63 Asterion