USS Crater (AK-70)

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 Crater
Namesake:	John James Audubon The constellation Crater
Ordered:	as a Type EC2-S-C1 hull, MCE hull 420
Builder:	Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Yard number:	420
Way number:	1
Laid down:	28 August 1942
Launched:	8 October 1942
Acquired:	22 October 1942
Commissioned:	31 October 1942
Decommissioned:	25 June 1946
Struck:	23 June 1947
Identification:	Hull symbol: AK-70 Code letters: NXTX
Fate:	laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California, 23 June 1947
Status:	sold for scrapping, 26 August 1974, completed, 30 March 1975
General characteristics
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 × Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450° 2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:	1 × Joshua Hendy vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 1 × shaft
Speed:	12.5 kn (14.4 mph; 23.2 km/h)
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

The 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. Named after the constellation Crater, she was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.

Crater was laid down 28 August 1942, as liberty ship SS John James Audubon, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 420, by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California. She was launched 8 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Elisabeth Cornelison Wetsel and transferred to the Navy 22 October 1942. Crater was commissioned 31 October 1942, with Lieutenant Commander Russell Dodd, USNR, in command.

Clearing San Francisco 10 November 1942, Crater delivered cargo to Efate and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, and Nouméa, New Caledonia before arriving at Wellington, New Zealand, 28 June 1943 to repair and reload.

Crater continued to carry cargo from New Zealand and other supply bases to Guadalcanal and throughout the Solomons until 21 June 1944, when she sailed to operate in the Marshalls and Marianas through the summer. She returned to Guadalcanal, resuming operations in the southwest Pacific until 1 March 1945, when she cleared for overhaul at San Francisco.