USS Polaris (AF-11)

USS Polaris operating off Korea, 1953
History
United States
Name:	SS Donald McKay
Namesake:	Donald McKay
Laid down:	23 July 1938
Launched:	1938
Acquired:	WWII: 27 January 1941 Korea: 6 October 1948
Commissioned:	WWII:4 April 1941
Recommissioned:	Korea: 1 July 1949
Decommissioned:	WWII: 18 January 1946 Korea: 12 January 1957
In service:	1 July 1948
Out of service:	12 January 1957
Struck:	WWII: 7 February 1946 Korea: 10 October 1957
Reinstated:	1 July 1949
Honors and awards:	WWII: one battle star Korea: six battle stars: 1st UN Counter Offensive: 12 February-22 March 1951 Communist China Spring Offensive: 30 April-6 May 1951 UN Summer-Fall Offensive: 9-10, 24–25 July 1951 8-12, 20–23 September 1951 10-15, 24–27 October 1951 Second Korean Winter: 3-6, 11-12, 20-21, 29–31 December 1951 3-6, 13–14 January 1952 24–30 March 1952 Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 - 2 to 3 June 1962 Korea, Summer-Fall 1953 - 24 to 26 May 1953; 3 to 6 June 1953
Fate:	not recorded
General characteristics
Class and type:	Aldebaran class
Type:	Type C2 ship (MARCOM)
Displacement:	13,910 tons
Length:	459 ft 3 in (139.98 m)
Beam:	63 ft 0 in (19.20 m)
Draft:	25 ft 10 in (7.87 m) (limiting)
Propulsion:	single propeller 6,000shp (one 2-stroke, 4-cylinder single-acting Doxford Diesel)
Speed:	16.4 kts,
Capacity:	5,443 DWT
Complement:	287
Armament:	one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount; four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts; ten single 20 mm AA gun mounts

USS Polaris (AF-11) was a Type C2 "Liberty fleet" standard freighter and an Aldebaran-class stores ship acquired from the United States Maritime Commission by the US Navy for World War II and the Korean War.

Polaris made five round trips from the U.S. East Coast to Reykjavík, Iceland from June 1942 to February 1943. She then made five voyages from the U.S. East Coast to Port of Spain, Trinidad, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, March to July 1943. From October 1943 to February 1944 she made four more voyages to the Caribbean, touching at Port of Spain, Trinidad; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Hamilton, Bermuda; the Virgin Islands; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

From March through September 1944 Polaris made three round-trip voyages in convoy from the east coast to Oran, Algeria, and other Mediterranean ports. In October she made another voyage to the Caribbean.

On 10 November 1944 she departed New York for the Panama Canal Zone escorted by the USS Leland E. Thomas (DE-420) and arrived at Cristóbal, Colón 16 November 1944.Polaris then sailed to Enewetak, Saipan, Tinian, and Apra before returning to Seattle, Washington, 9 January 1945.