USS Mauna Loa ( AE - 8 ) USS " Mauna Loa " ( AE - 8 ) was laid down by Tampa Shipbuilding Co . , Tampa , Fla . , 10 December 1942 ; launched 14 April 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Robert E . Friend ; and commissioned 27 October 1943 , Comdr . George D . Martin in command . She is named after Mauna Loa , a large shield volcano on the Island of Hawaii . Service History . 1944 - 1947 ( World War II service and near - disaster supplying USS Pennsylvania ) . After shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay , " Mauna Loa " loaded on 5 , 600 tons of ammunition at Norfolk and departed Hampton Roads , Va . , 19 December with a stopover at San Francisco for 2 days , arriving Pearl Harbor 17 January 1944 . Assigned to the service force , on 1 February she continued on to the Marshalls escorted by USS " Manlove " ( DE ‑ 36 ) , reaching Majuro 7 days later to begin rearming the fleet . On 9 February a near - disaster occurred while " Mauna Loa " was supplying USS " Pennsylvania " ( BB ‑ 38 ) with gunpowder . With the men on " Mauna Loa " moving the powder containers over faster than they could be removed to the magazines of the battleship , the cans gradually piled up to more than a hundred on " Pennsylvania ’ s " forward deck . At 16 : 35 a flash of flame leaped out across her deck , accompanied by a dull boom — one of the cans had exploded ! Grains of burning powder were hurled about , many of them streaking down " Mauna Loa ’ s " open hold . Without a moment ’ s hesitation , Boatswain F . B . Wilson seized a hose and turned it on the burning can . This stream of water checked the fire until " Pennsylvania ’ s " men could get the can over the side before it ignited the others . Two of " Pennsylvania ’ s " men suffered broken legs and the man handling the powder can was blinded . Courageous performance of their duties under such hazardous conditions had become mere routine to the officers and men of the ammunition ship . On 2 March " Mauna Loa " sailed for the west coast , via Pearl Harbor , arriving San Francisco the 21st to replenish her cargo of ammunition . She got underway 10 April again for the South Pacific , her destination being the New Hebrides . She reached Espiritu Santo 28 April for a month of operations , then proceeded to Eniwetok , Marshalls , where from 13 June to 23 July she supported the Marianas operation . After a return trip to San Francisco , on 8 September Mauna Loa entered the Kossol Passage , Palaus , in company with USS " Shasta " ( AE ‑ 6 ) and USS " McCoy Reynolds " ( DE - 440 ) . She then began a 24 ‑ hour ‑ a ‑ day rearming of the 3d Fleet , while swept mines exploded all around the anchorage . After an unidentified plane strafed her during the night of 19 September while USS " Portland " ( CA ‑ 33 ) was alongside , night operations were halted . By November she was en route to the Carolines , arriving Ulithi the 30th . " Mauna Loa " remained there until the beginning of the Okinawa campaign . On 13 March 1945 she departed Ulithi with TG 50 . 8 for 5 successful months on the “ line , ” as it came to be termed , replenishing some 99 ships underway . The Japanese capitulation 14 August found her at San Pedro , Philippines . " Mauna Loa " departed San Pedro for the west coast 4 October , arriving Tiburon , Calif . , the 21st . She moved up to Bremerton , Wash . , 12 November . She then entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego 15 May 1946 and decommissioned 2 June 1947 . 1955 - 1958 ( Recomissioning and engine - room fire ) . " Mauna Loa " recommissioned 31 January 1955 , Capt . Elgin B . Hurlbert in command , and departed San Diego 16 March for the east coast . After docking at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for alterations , she began refresher training out of Newport , R . I . , 8 September ; then served out of Earle , N . J . , through the end of the year . On 5 January 1956 " Mauna Loa " departed Earle with Mine Division 81 for Europe , arriving Naples , Italy , the 24th . The ammunition ship operated with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean until 28 May when she steamed from Tangiers for home . She reached Yorktown , Va . , 13 June for supply duty along the east coast from Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into September 1957 . On 26 July 1957 the " Mauna Loa " threatened for more than an hour to emulate the famous Hawaiian volcano in more than just a name . With 3500 tons of explosives and a crew of 220 aboard she caught fire about 5 miles off Ambrose Lightship , the entrance to New York Harbor . The fire was contained to the ship ' s engine room and was extinguished by crew members . It was towed to Gravesend Bay for repairs the following two weeks . An explosion would have periled the shore by leveling Coney Island and breaking all windows on Manhattan up to 34th Street . ( based on estimates from the similar USS Mount Hood AE 11 explosion in 1944 . ) On 27 September she again got underway from Earle for another tour in the Mediterranean until her return to Norfolk 17 November for 2d Fleet operations . From 1 February to 27 June 1958 " Mauna Loa " made a third visit to the Mediterranean , returning to New York 7 July . She shifted to Beaumont , Texas , on 15 September for inactivation and 16 December again decommissioned this time entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange , Texas 1960 - 1969 ( Recomissioining and Vietnam ) . After temporarily joining the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia 12 November 1960 , Mauna Loa was reacquired and recommissioned the third time 27 November 1961 , Capt . Vernon P . O ’ Neil in command . She sailed from Philadelphia 8 October for her home port , Bayonne , N . J . On 15 January 1962 the ammunition ship got underway from Norfolk for shakedown off Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , into late February . For the next seven years " Mauna Loa " continued a pattern of upkeep and supply service along the east coast out of Norfolk and Earle , interspersed with training cruises and exercises in the Caribbean . She departed Bayonne 9 October 1967 for a new and vital mission , supply operations off South Vietnam . She transited the Panama Canal the 16th on her way to the Pacific , and soon thereafter arrived off the troubled Southeast Asian area to begin service to the fleet fighting to repel Communist aggression . From 1968 till 1970 her mission was rearming aircraft carriers , destroyers , and cruisers in the Mediterranean Sea . The Mauna Loa was finally decommissioned in February 1971 . Awards and honors . " Mauna Loa " received three battle star s for World War II service .