USS Pegasus (AK-48)

USS Pegasus (IX-222)
History
United States
NameUSS Pegasus
BuilderHelsingør Jernskibs og Maskinbyggeri, Helsingør, Denmark
Launched1939, as Rita Maersk
Completed27 December 1939
Acquiredby the US Navy, 18 September 1941
Commissioned3 December 1941
Decommissioned19 April 1946
RenamedUSS Pegasus, 15 October 1941
ReclassifiedIX-222 (Miscellaneous Unclassified), 15 May 1945
FateReturned to the Maritime Commission, 19 April 1946, sold commercial, scrapped January 1972
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Displacement1,930 long tons (1,961 t) light
Length299 ft 1 in (91.16 m)
Beam42 ft 6 in (12.95 m)
Draft14 ft (4.3 m)
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement156
Armament

USS Pegasus was built in 1939 as SS Rita Maersk by Helsingør Jernskibs og Maskinbyggeri A/A, Helsingør, Denmark. Following the outbreak of World War II in Europe, she sailed to the United States where she operated under charter from the Maritime Commission as Rita Maersk and later as Larwin. After completing two cruises, she was laid up at Boston, Massachusetts, until 18 September 1941 when she was acquired by the United States Navy from the Maritime Commission. Renamed USS Pegasus on 15 October 1941, the cargo ship was converted for U.S. Navy use by Sullivan Drydock and Repair Corporation, New York City, and commissioned at New York on 3 December 1941.