Castor (AKS 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER CAPTAIN A. L. LUPIA Captain Lupia was born on February 14, 1921 in Jersey City, New Jersey and grew up in East Orange where he attended public schools. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1943 with a B.A. de- gree and attended the Naval Reserve Mid- shipmen ' s School, New York, where he was commissioned as Ensign in June of that year. During World War II he served with amphibious attack forces in the Pacific Theater in USS BAXTER (APA-94) as Boat Group Commander and Assistant Navigator and in USS PITT (APA-223) as First Lieutenant and Executive Officer. After completing Gunnery Officer ' s Ordnance School in Washington, D. C., in 1947 he served in USS GOODRICH (DDR-831) for 31 months, first as Gun- nery Officer then as Operations Officer. From 1950 to 1952, he was attached to the Naval Amphibious Training Unit, Lit- tle Creek, and then reported to the staff of Commander Amphibious Group TWO. In 1954 he completed the General Line Course at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. He next served two years as Aide and Flag Secretary on the staff of Commander Training Com- mand, U. S. Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia. After attending Armed Forces Staff College in 1956 he became Executive Of- ficer in USS HAYNSWORTH (DD-700) and then was assigned to the USS RANDOLPH (CVA-15) as Gunnery Officer. From 1959 to 1961 he was Executive Officer, NROTC, Darthmouth College after which he attended the U. S. Army Senior War College at Carlisle Barracks, Penn. In July 1962 he assumed command of USS CORY (DDR-817), a unit of the Sixth Fleet, Near the end of this tour, he had additional duties as Commander Destroyer Division 262. His next assignment was on the Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Penta- gon. There he served as an action offi- cer in the Operations Directorate and as Command Center Operations Chief. On September 14, 1966, he took com- mand of USS CASTOR (AKS-1).

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A LOOK AT THE PAST THROUGH THE YEARS The USS CASTOR ' S hull was designed and laid down as the first C-2 class cargo vessel by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the US Maritime Com- mission. She was launched at Kearney, N. J. on May 20, 1939 as SS CHALLENGE. When first completed, the vessel was operated for one year by the Cuba Mail Line before- purchase by the Navy on Octo- ber 23, 1940. Converted for the Navy and designated AKS-1, she was commissioned USS CASTOR on March 12, 1941, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Her mission was to carry general stores, ship ' s store stock, clothing, and medical supplies to the for- ward operating areas where no advance bases had been established. At 0730, December 7, 1941. CASTOR was among the ships in Pearl Harbor under attack by the Japanese. She had a cargo of TNT, and although the ship was strafed, there were no casualties among her crew. Until early 1944 when six more AKc3 vessels were completed, CASTOR and ANTARES (AKS-3) were the only ships of this class operating with the fleet. CASTOR finished the war servicing the fleet in the Western Pacific. On June 30, 1947, she was decommissioned, having steamed 246,354 miles. In October 1950, CASTOR was towed to Todd Shipyard, Alameda. California, where repairs and reactivation began. The next month she was again placed in com- mission and again sent to the Western Pacific. The ship witnessed the Korean conflict and remained in the Orient through 1955. CAS ' ; OR returned to San Francisco in January of 1956. For the next five months the ship underwent overhaul and conver- sion. Upon completion, she emerged as the most advanced supply ship in the technical and general stores area. The redesign of CASTOR, which resulted in placing techni- cal spares on board (electronics, ordnance, and ship ' s repair parts) gave the ship her present configuration and permitted the deactivation of two AKS-T ' s. CASTOR was thus three ships in one. She arrived in Yokosuka. Japan, her new homeport and began again to support ships in the Western Pacific. Shortly after returning to WESTPAC, CASTOR received an SOS from a Philippine merchant ship. SS LEPUS. She immediately turned her head toward the typhoon which was bat- tering LEPUS. With the assistance of res- cue plauies from Clark Air Force Base, CASTOR located and picked up eleven sur- vivors on the evening of October 20, 1956. The SS LEPUS had sunk the previous day. One survivor died from exposure shortly after rescue. The other twenty-five men aboard LEPUS were never found. On No- vember 5. 1956. the President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, presented a citation and plaque to the officers and men of CASTOR. In 1964. shortly before the ship began to deploy routinely to the South China Sea. her homeport was shifted to Sasebo, Japan, in Nagasaki Prefecture. The last six months of 1965 saw CASTOR in overhaul once again, this time in Sasebo by Sasebo Heavy Industries (SSK) and the Ship Repair De- partment, Fleet Activities, Sasebo. Instal- lation of the latest communications equip- ment was a primary modification in antic- ipation of an increased tempo of operations. Since early 1966, CASTOR has aver- aged meeting over one-hundred ships per deployment, while maintaining an average net effectiveness of over 90 ' ;f.. CASTOR continues to be most consistent in her sup- port of Yankee and Market-time ships in the waters off Vietnam. She is still NUMBER ONE.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMMANDER WILLIAM B. SHIELDS Commander William B. Shields became CASTOR ' S Executive Officer in October of 1965. He reported aboard after being relieved as Commanding Officer, U. S. Naval Facility, Pacific Beach, Washington. Born in Forkville Centre, New York, Com- mander Shields graduated from Kemper Military Academy and then went on to the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with the class of ' 49. He attended Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, Califor- nia in 1959, fiie Executive Officer ' s Naval career began in i949 when he accepted a direct commiss oi is Engisn. Previous duty as- signments at U. S. Naval Training Center, San Diego, and Chief Staff Officer for Com- mander Destroyer Squadron SEVENTEEN. Commander Shields is married to the former Miss Ruth Baudreau of Maynard, Massachusetts, previously a Navy Nurse. Their six children range in age from three to twelve. The commander weilds a Can- non Pellix in pursuit of his hobby of pho- tography, and is also an avid stamp col- lector. Commander Shields is now Communi- cations Officer on the Staff, Commander, Naval Forces Japan.