USS Aldebaran ( AF - 10 ) USS " Aldebaran " ( AF - 10 ) , the lead ship of her class of stores ship is the only ship of the United States Navy to have this name . She is named after Aldebaran , a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Taurus . Originally the SS " Stag Hound " was laid down on 28 November 1938 at Newport News , Virginia , by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 27 ) ; launched on 21 June 1939 ; sponsored by Mrs . Martha Macy Hill ; and delivered to the Grace Lines on 4 December 1939 . The cargo ship served that shipping firm for a year before the Navy purchased her on 22 December 1940 . Renamed " Aldebaran " , classified a stores ship , and designated AF - 10 , she was placed in commission , in ordinary , on 26 December 1940 . Comdr . Royal Abbott assumed command on 10 January 1941 , and " Aldebaran " was placed in full commission at San Francisco on 14 January 1941 . The stores ship embarked upon her first Navy mission on 26 January , departing from San Francisco on a round - trip voyage via Pearl Harbor to Pago Pago , Samoa . Following her maiden mission for the Navy , " Aldebaran " remained at San Francisco until 29 March when she put to sea with a cargo bound for Hawaii . The ship made a seven - day layover at Pearl Harbor between 5 and 12 April and returned to San Francisco on the 18th . Upon her arrival back on the west coast , she entered a civilian drydock at Oakland , California , to begin conversion to a fleet provisioning ship . Major modifications were completed by 21 October , and finishing touches were added over the next three weeks . On 14 November , " Aldebaran " departed San Francisco on her way to San Diego . Following a three - day stay at that port between 16 and 19 November , she got underway for Hawaii . The ship discharged cargo at Pearl Harbor during the last six days of November and , after an overnight stop at Maui , headed back to the west coast on 1 December . " Aldebaran " arrived at San Francisco on the 6th . On the following morning , the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and plunged the United States into World War II . The ship embarked upon her first wartime voyage on 17 December . Over the next six months , " Aldebaran " completed four round - trip runs carrying provisions and passengers between San Francisco and Hawaii . She concluded the fourth of those Pearl Harbor shuttle assignments at San Francisco on 6 June 1942 . Her next assignment took the ship beyond Hawaii to the South Pacific . She stood out of San Francisco on 23 June , stopped at Pearl Harbor early in July , and then spent the remainder of the summer of 1942 making calls at ports on the South Pacific circuit . " Aldebaran " visited Samoa , Tongatapu , New Caledonia , and Espiritu Santo before returning to San Francisco on 23 September . That first wartime series of port calls in the South Pacific established a pattern of operations for her that endured through the next 20 months . " Aldebaran " loaded cargo at San Francisco and then embarked upon long , circuitous voyages that took her back to New Caledonia , Samoa , and Espiritu Santo . In May 1944 , during the run back to the west coast from Espiritu Santo , " Aldebaran " was diverted to Hawaii to load cargo bound for the Central Pacific . She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 24 May , took on her cargo , and returned to sea on the 29th . The ship entered Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 5 June and spent six days issuing fresh and frozen provisions to ships about to assault the Mariana Islands . She headed back to Pearl Harbor on 12 June and stood into that port on the 18th . " Aldebaran " spent the next nine months carrying provisions to ships at forward bases in the Marshalls and Carolines . Her most frequent ports of call were Eniwetok in the Marshalls and Ulithi in the Carolines ; however , she made one visit each to Kwajalein in the Marshalls , Manus in the Admiralty Islands , and Guam in the Marianas . At the conclusion of each supply mission , she returned to either Pearl Harbor or San Francisco to load additional cargo . On 29 March 1945 , " Aldebaran " arrived in San Francisco to complete the last of her resupply missions to ships in the anchorages in the Central Pacific atolls . On 10 April , she departed San Francisco for Pearl Harbor where she spent the period 16 to 21 April fitting out for a new mission , replenishing the fast carriers and their screens at sea . " Aldebaran " stood out of Pearl Harbor on the 21st and arrived in Ulithi on 2 May . There , she reported for duty with Task Unit ( TU ) 50 . 8 . 5 , part of the underway replenishment group . She departed Ulithi in company with TU 50 . 8 . 5 on May and joined the rest of Task Group ( TG ) 50 . 8 at sea . The stores ship spent about five weeks at sea replenishing the warships engaged in the Okinawa campaign before putting in at Guam on 13 June to reload . For the remaining two months of hostilities , " Aldebaran " provided logistics support for the carrier task groups making air strikes on the Japanese home islands , returning periodically to either Guam or Ulithi to restock her larder . Hostilities ceased on 15 August 1945 , but " Aldebaran " continued replenishment - at - sea operations during the initial stages of the occupation of Japan . She was present to Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 when Japanese officials signed the surrender document on board " Missouri " ( BB - 63 ) . For the remainder of 1945 , " Aldebaran " provided logistics support for forces occupying Japan and her former conquests . On 17 January 1946 , the stores ship departed Taku , China , on her way back to the United States . She arrived in Seattle , Washington , on 31 January and entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard a week later for a two - month repair period . " Aldebaran " returned to Seattle on 6 April and began preparations for her last voyage to the Far East . On 22 April , she put to sea bound for Japan . The ship reached Yokosuka on 8 May and , from there , continued on to Tsingtao , China , and Okinawa . On 15 June , " Aldebaran " departed Okinawa to return to the United States . Her ultimate destination was the east coast . After a stop at San Pedro , California , she resumed her voyage , transited the Panama Canal , and arrived at Bayonne , New Jersey , on 18 July . After a voyage to North Africa and western Europe in August and September , " Aldebaran " settled into a routine of operations along the east coast punctuated by voyages to the West Indies to provide logistics support to bases and ships in that region and to participate in exercises . Such pursuits occupied her time for almost 19 months , until the beginning of June 1948 . On the 4th , she stood out of Chesapeake Bay to embark upon the first of many missions to the Mediterranean Sea . For the next two decades , " Aldebaran " alternated between assignments to the Mediterranean Sea and operations in the western Atlantic . Unlike most other ships attached to the 6th Fleet , she did not normally serve extended periods of time in the Mediterranean . Instead , her cruises tended to be about six to ten weeks in duration , and she generally made two or three of them a year . She would remain in the Mediterranean as long as she retained a sufficient stock of provisions for issue . When those stocks began to run low , " Aldebaran " . returned to the United States . Turnaround time at home varied . Scheduled overhauls meant extended periods in the United States . In addition , other resupply missions , such as to forces operating in the West Indies , replaced voyages to the Mediterranean on her schedule . Occasional interludes in northern European waters also varied " Aldebaran " ' s itinerary . Twice during her postwar career , " Aldebaran " participated in operations for which she received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal . During the summer of 1958 , the United States landed marines in Lebanon to help restore domestic order in that country . The stores ship got underway from Norfolk just four days after the landings to provide logistics services to the ships supporting those troops . Four years later , in the fall of 1962 , President John F . Kennedy surrounded the island of Cuba with a cordon of warships to stop the flow of Soviet missiles to that island and to force the removal of those already in place . " Aldebaran " ' s at - sea replenishment capabilities helped those ships maintain a constant vigil thereby contributing to the successful conclusion of the matter . " Aldebaran " continued her active service to United States naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea and in the West Indies until mid - 1968 . On 28 June 1968 , she was placed out of commission at Norfolk . Four months later , on 29 October , " Aldebaran " was transferred to the Maritime Administration to be berthed with the National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River , Virginia . That transfer was made permanent on 30 June 1969 . " Aldebaran " ' s name was struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1973 , and she was sold on 14 November 1974 to Andy International , Brownsville , Texas , for scrapping . " Aldebaran " was awarded two battle star s during World War II .