USS Auriga (AK–98)

USS Auriga (AK-98) Photographed during World War II.
History
United States
Name:	USS Auriga
Ordered:	as SS Alcoa Partner C1-B hull, MC hull 739
Laid down:	9 June 1942
Launched:	7 September 1942
Acquired:	16 March 1943
Commissioned:	1 April 1943
Decommissioned:	22 January 1946
Struck:	7 February 1946
Fate:	scrapped in 1970
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,023 t.(lt) 11,565 t.(fl)
Length:	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam:	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draught:	28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Propulsion:	reciprocating steam engine, single shaft, 1,950shp
Speed:	12 kts.
Complement:	198
Armament:	one 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, one 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mount, two 40 mm guns, six 20 mm guns

USS Auriga (AK-98) was an Auriga-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after the constellation Auriga. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

SS Alcoa Partner was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 493) on 9 June 1942 at Wilmington, California, by the Consolidated Steel Corp.; launched on 7 September 1942; sponsored by Dorothea Rasmussen Kunkel; acquired by the Navy on 16 March 1943; converted for naval service as a cargo ship by the Matson Navigation Co.; renamed Auriga on 29 March 1943 and designated AK-98; and placed in commission at San Francisco, California, on 1 April 1943, Lt. Comdr. John G. Hart in command.

Upon her commissioning, the cargo ship was assigned to the Naval Transportation Service. When the conversion work had been completed, she got underway on 6 June for Port Hueneme, California, to load cargo and departed the U.S. West Coast on 14 April, bound for the Fiji Islands. The vessel reached Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, on 3 May and began discharging cargo. Unloading was completed on the 28th, and she then reversed her course and proceeded back to the west coast of the United States. Upon her arrival in San Francisco, the ship entered a shipyard for repair work which was completed by early July when Auriga moved to Alameda, California, to load equipment and supplies for transportation to New Caledonia.

The vessel put out to sea on 19 July and, upon her arrival at Nouméa on 7 August, unloaded her cargo. She completed this task on 21 August and sailed once more for the Fijis. The ship touched at Suva on the 24th; discharged equipment and supplies; and, three days later, began the voyage back to the United States. She arrived at San Francisco on 13 September, reloaded her holds, and moved to San Diego, California. On 1 October she stood out to sea, bound for the Ellice Islands.