USS Arcturus (AKA-1)

USS Arcturus (AKA-1)
History
United States
Name	USS Arcturus
Namesake	Arcturus, a star in the constellation Boötes
Builder	Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania
Laid down	26 July 1938, as Mormachawk
Launched	18 May 1939
Acquired	20 September 1940
Commissioned	26 October 1940, as USS Arcturus (AK-18)
Decommissioned	3 April 1946
Reclassified	AKA-1 (attack cargo ship), 1 February 1943
Stricken	5 June 1946
Fate	Sold into commercial service as SS Arcturus Scrapped in 1971
General characteristics
Class and type	Arcturus-class attack cargo ship
Type	Type C2 ship
Displacement	14,225 long tons (14,453 t)
Length	459 ft 1 in (139.93 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draft	26 ft 5 in (8.05 m)
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Complement	267
Armament	1 × 5-inch/38-caliber gun mount 4 × 40 mm gun mounts
Service record
Operations:	Invasion of North Africa (1942) Invasion of Sicily (1943) Salerno Landings (1943) Landings in southern France (1944) Battle of Okinawa (1945)
Awards:	5 battle stars

USS Arcturus (AK-18/AKA-1) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship named after Arcturus, a star in the constellation Boötes. She served as a commissioned ship for 5 years and 5 months.