- USS Venus (AK-135)
The USS "Venus" (AK-135) was a "Crater"-class
cargo ship in the service of theUnited States Navy inWorld War II . Originallyliberty ship SS "William Williams" (named after William Williams a signer of the Declaration of Independence), it was taken over by the Navy after damaged by a torpedo attack and renamed after the planet Venus. It was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.SS "William Williams" was laid down on
5 July 1942 under a Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 263) byPermanente Metals Corporation , Yard No. 2,Richmond, California ; launched on21 August ; sponsored by Mrs. Paul S. Marrin; was delivered to her owners, theIsthmian Steamship Lines , on8 September ; and operated in the Pacific for the remainder of 1942 and into 1943. On2 May 1943 , while near Suva, Fiji Islands, "William Williams" was torpedoed byJapan ese submarine I-19, commanded by Lt.Takaichi Kinashi who, while commanding this I-boat, had torpedoed "Wasp" (CV-7), "North Carolina" (BB-55), and "O’Brien" (DD-415) with the same spread of torpedoes offGuadalcanal on15 September 1942 . Kinashi chose not to finish off the crippled "Liberty ship," however, and cleared the area. "William Williams", meanwhile, abandoned by her crew, remained afloat though heavily damaged.Reboarded, "William Williams" was towed to
Fiji and thence toAuckland ,New Zealand , where the Navy acquired the ship on6 November 1943 from the War Shipping Administration under a bareboat charter. Enough repairs to make the ship seaworthy were effected, and she was commissioned as "Venus" on10 November , Lt. Comdr. George H. L. Peet in command.Towed from Auckland, "Venus" arrived at
Sydney ,Australia , where she was decommissioned and placed "in service" on4 December . Docking and conversion work at the port were delayed due to higher priorities being assigned to other ships and labor troubles at the dockyards themselves. Once these obstacles were overcome, work proceeded apace — a difficult task because the conversion was accomplished in a foreign yard with non-standard materials. Designated AK-135, the ship was placed back in commission on26 September 1944 . On4 October , she commenced her shakedown and soon loaded general cargo and dry provisions before she sailed for the Admiralties on26 October .She reached Manus four days later and discharged some of her cargo. There, she also received her main battery, a single 5-inch, dual-purpose gun. The ship witnessed an air raid on
9 November , but the attack was directed at another vicinity, and the cargo vessel did not participate in the action. The following day, "Mount Hood" (AE-11) blew up in a cataclysmic explosion while handling ammunition atSeeadler Harbor . All but a few of her crew (those who were ashore at the time) were killed in the blast which not only atomized the ammunition ship but severely damaged other ships nearby. "Venus" responded to this emergency by sending a boat to assist in medical operations with 30 units of blood plasma.During the ship's stay at Manus, several cases of
diphtheria developed on board, and all hands were restricted to the ship. On28 November , "Venus" sailed for Dutch New Guinea, arrived atHollandia the following day, and stayed untilChristmas Eve , when she headed forAitape — arriving there on Christmas Day. On27 December 1944 , the cargo vessel got underway forCape Sansapor , where she supplied LST’s attached to Task Group (TG) 77.5, which later took part in the landings atLingayen Gulf . Proceeding toMorotai upon completion of these revictualling operations, she unloaded the remainder of her cargo and fueled various small craft of theRoyal Australian Navy .On
4 January 1945 , during "Venus"’ stay at Morotai, Japanese aircraft conducted a bombing raid on the nearby land base, but the planes were driven off by antiaircraft fire and night fighters. Six days later, "Venus", her holds empty, sailed with five other ships to Hollandia, where she took on board passengers. While proceeding thence to Australia, she encountered heavy gales but arrived safely atBrisbane on23 January .The ship underwent repairs soon after she arrived while concurrently loading equipment of the
109th Fleet Hospital unit and of the544th Construction Battalion (CB or "Seabees") for transport to the Philippine Islands. She departed Brisbane on4 February , proceeded via Manus and Hollandia, and joined a convoy off the Dutch New Guinea coast. The Allied ships arrived atGuiuan Roadstead offSamar on27 February . Part of the Seabee unit soon went ashore to begin building the hospital, while the remainder stayed on board to unload equipment and stores. Eventually, as more Seabees could be accommodated ashore, the job of unloading passed on to "Venus"’ crew. Despite the lack of barges and experienced stevedores, "Venus" succeeded in unloading all equipment and supplies earmarked for the hospital unit before she joined a southbound convoy on8 April , got underway for the Admiralties, and arrived at Manus one week later.Proceeding thence to
Emirau , "Venus" loaded the remnants of the77th Construction Battalion and their equipment, accomplishing this on25 April before getting underway for Brisbane to load more of the 77th Battalion's equipment. Besides the full load of cargo, "Venus" also accommodated 600 passengers, and additional galley and bunking facilities were set up on deck beneath makeshift shelters to take care of these men. The cargo vessel then headed north for the Philippines, viaMilne Bay , and arrived atManila on13 June to commence offloading and to disembark her passengers. Five days later, the ship shifted to a berth alongside a sunken Japanese cargo ship.With the erstwhile enemy freighter serving as a dock, "Venus" offloaded the remainder of her cargo — experiencing two air raid alerts during her stay at Manila — and completed these operations by
30 June . She then pressed southward for the Admiralties and loaded 1,500 tons of bombs for transport to Bougainville in the Solomons. The installation of a gyro compass delayed her sailing until25 July , but the ship arrived atEmpress Augusta Bay on29 July .Eleven days later, "Venus" departed
Torokina , Bougainville, bound for theNew Hebrides and arrived atEspiritu Santo on11 August . She loaded material for drydock "ABSD-1", loading from lighters inPallikulo Bay . Due to poor loading conditions, the job was not completed until7 September , when she was ready to sail for the Philippine Islands. During her stay at Espiritu Santo, word arrived that Japan had surrendered; and, for the first time since commissioning, the ship could sail at night without having to "darken ship.""Venus" arrived at
Samar on20 September and discharged her cargo before moving on toSubic Bay . She sailed from Cebu on15 December , bound for the Hawaiian Islands, and arrived atPearl Harbor on16 March . Decommissioned on18 April 1946 , the ship was subsequently towed by "Hitchiti" (ATF-103) to the west coast, departing Pearl Harbor on5 December 1947 and arriving at San Francisco on13 December .Declared surplus to Navy needs, the ship was struck from the Navy list on
19 February 1948 . Stripped for disposal, she was returned to the Maritime Commission on the 27th and was placed in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet atSuisun Bay , California. The ship was scrapped atOakland, California , in August 1961."Venus" received one
battle star for her service during World War II as "William Williams". Her crew were eligible for the following medals:
* Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive SS William Williams, 2 May 1943)
* American Campaign Medal
* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
* World War II Victory Medal
* Philippine Liberation MedalReferences
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