USS Crater

USS Crater (AK-70) underway in San Francisco Bay, 2 November 1942, soon after conversion for naval service.
History
United States
Name	John James Audubon
Namesake	John James Audubon
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	A.H. Bull & Co., Inc.[1]
Ordered	as a Type EC2-S-C1 hull, MCE hull 420
Builder	Richmond Shipyards, Richmond, California[2]
Cost	$1,181,541[3]
Yard number	420
Way number	1
Laid down	28 August 1942
Launched	8 October 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Cornelison Wetsel
Identification	IMO number: 5173890 Call sign: KHUJ [3]
Fate	Transferred to US Navy, 22 October 1942[1]
United States
Name	Crater
Namesake	The constellation Crater
Acquired	22 October 1942
Commissioned	31 October 1942
Decommissioned	25 June 1946
Stricken	23 June 1947
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-70 Call sign: NXTX
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 26 August 1974, removed from fleet, 7 October 1974
Notes	Name reverted to John James Audubon when laid up in Reserve Fleet
General characteristics [4]
Class and type	Crater-class cargo ship
Type	Type EC2-S-C1
Displacement	4,023 long tons (4,088 t) (standard) 14,550 long tons (14,780 t) (full load)
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft	28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) ,  (manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) 2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × Vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine,  (manufactured by Joshua Hendy) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity	7,800 t (7,700 long tons) DWT 444,206 cu ft (12,578.5 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement	205
Armament	1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose (DP) gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber DP gun 2 × 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) gun mounts 6 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon AA gun mounts

USS Crater (AK-70) was the lead ship of her class of converted liberty ship cargo ships in the service of the US Navy in World War II. She was first named after John James Audubon, an American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. She was renamed and commissioned after the constellation Crater, she was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.