Lassen class ammunition ship
USS Lassen (AE-3)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Lassen (AE-3) |
| Namesake: |
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| Launched: | 10 January 1940 |
| Acquired: | 15 November 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 27 November 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 January 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1961 |
| Fate: | scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Lassen-class ammunition ship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 459 ft (140 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19.2 m) |
| Draft: | 25 ft 11 in (7.9 m) |
| Installed power: | 2 300kw Westinghouse direct current generators driven by 2 direct-connected 6-cylinder 450hp Superior diesel engines. |
| Propulsion: | 2 x 9 cyl. Nordberg diesel engines each with 3155 brake horsepower at 225 rpm geared to 1 shaft |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 5,000 deadweight tons |
| Complement: | 280 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Lassen (AE-3) was built as MS Shooting Star under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract, was delivered to the U.S. Navy after sea trials, and became an ammunition cargo ship during World War II. Like many Naval ships of this category that carried large amounts of explosive cargo, she was named for a volcano (or a volcanic island). In this case, the ship was named for Lassen Peak, a volcano in northern California that erupted heavily in 1914-17.
Shooting Star was built by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company in Tampa, Florida, under a Maritime Commission contract. She was the second of eight C2 type motor ships of a series constructed by Tampa Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Tampa, Florida powered by twin Nordberg diesels, the first being Sea Witch. She was launched on 10 January 1940, christened by Mrs. Fred C. Cone. The ship was acquired by the Navy on 15 November 1940, and commissioned four days later for transfer to a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, for conversion to a Naval ammunition ship, with Lt. Cmdr. A. B. Kerr in command. She was re-commissioned in her modified form on 27 March 1941, with Commander Russell S. Berkey of the U.S. Navy in command.
In the months previous to the outbreak of World War II for the United States, the USS Lassen made ammunition deliveries along both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of the U.S., and in July 1941, she steamed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then returned to the Atlantic Coast. On 22 November 1941, she departed from Norfolk, Virginia, en route to San Francisco, her homeport, and war broke out during this voyage.
After round-trip delivery voyages to the Samoa Islands, the Fiji Islands, and Pearl Harbor, the Lassen began duty as an advanced base supply ship. Departing from San Francisco on 26 August 1942, the Lassen replenished naval ships in New Caledonia from 19 September to 17 January 1943. The Lassen arrived back at San Francisco on 23 January 1943 for repairs, the installation of radar equipment, and an upgrade in her air-defense armament.
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Wikipedia