Castor (AKS 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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DECORATIONS OF THE USS CASTOR (AKS-I American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal World-War II Victor) Medal si.it n -Pa ifu Campaign Medal (with 5 battle slum .i Occupation Service Medal 1 Vsia Clasp) chin. 1 Sen i e Medal (I xtended) Korean Service Medal (with ? battle stars National Defense Service Medal Korean Presidential I nit Citation Badge iel Nam Presidential I nil Citation K i l l ' n l I riendship 1mr1l Forces I xpeditionary M lal

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SUPPLY OFFICER Commander William N. Haddock became CASTOR ' s Supply Officer in May of 19(13. He reported aboard from dutv as Control Officer of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton Washington. Born and raised in San Diego California, the Supply Officer attended UCLA, where he re- ceived his B. A. degree in Economics. In Mav of 1944, he was commissioned as an Ensign after training at the Midshipman School of Northwestern University. Eater, he attended the Basil Qualifications Course at Navy Supply Corps School and joined the Supply Corps. He received his initial experience as Supply Officer of USS SHEA (DM-30) followed by a tour as Supply Officer of USS ASHTABULA (AO-ci). Commander Haddock has also served as Naval Attache at the U. S. Embassy in Rome. Recently selected for promotion to Captain, the Supply Officer has just received orders to the Navv Area Audit Office, Washington, DC. Commander Haddock is married to the former Val Adair, also of San Diego. Their children are William Jr. (14), John (10), and Nancy (7). The Commander ' s main hobby is power boating.

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SHIP ' S HISTORY Her keel «.is laid as the Hist of a new breed, the C-2 cargo vessels for the U. S. Maritime com- mission. Designed by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, she was christened S. S. CHALLENGE and launched at Kearney, New Jersey on Mav 20, 1939. CHALLENGE sailed for the Cuba Mail Line until purchased bj the Navy in October of 1940. Converted for the Navy at Brewer ' s Shipyard, Staten Island, she became the first of another breed, a Stores Issue ship. Designated AKS-i and renamed USS CASTOR, she has been ichi-ban ( number one ) since her commissioning in March 1941. The CASTOR ' s mission was to carry general stores, ship ' s store stock, clothing, small stores, and medical and dental supplies: over eleven thousand different items, to forward operating areas for fleet issue. She was to provide logistic support to fleet units, in port or underway, in areas where advance bases were not available. Until the early months of 1944 CASTOR and ANTARES (AKS-3) were the onlv ships of this type operating with the fleet. She received her initial load in April 1941 from Naval Supply Depot, Norfolk, and the following month arrived in San Diego to begin her i areer in the Pacific. Alter only a few months of Navy service she added Marines to her load, along with their field gear and artillery. With the USMC First Defense Battalion aboard, CASTOR headed west, and on November 2, 1941, she landed two hundred men at Wake Island. These men formed nearly hall of the island ' s defense force when the Imperial Japanese Navv struck thirty-six days later. Returning immediately to Mare Island, California, CASTOR took on another load reflecting the tension of the times: ammunition and high explosives. With this hot cargo she arrived at Pearl Harbor on December 4, 1 94 1 . Most of it was still aboard three days later when the Japanese attacked, but an obscure berth at Merry ' s Point protected her from a direct hit. The vessel was strafed but suffered no casualties and resumed off-loading her ammunition soon after the attack. She then returned to the States, this time to Alameda with a load of pineapples which were used primarily for ballast. For the rest of the war CASTOR continued to make her supply runs to the central and southwest Pacific with cargos of troops, ammunition, and general stores. Wherever the fleet was, there was CASTOR. By the war ' s end, she had made twenty major supply runs, steaming nearly 250,000 miles.