USS Beltrami ( AK - 162 ) USS Beltrami ( AK - 162 ) was an " Alamosa " - class cargo ship commissioned by the U . S . Navy for service in World War II . She was responsible for delivering troops , goods and equipment to locations in the war zone . " Beltrami " ( AK - 162 ) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 2107 ) on 18 July 1944 by Kaiser Cargo , at Richmond , California ; launched on 26 September 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Marvin A . Thrash ; and acquired by the Navy and commissioned on 4 January 1945 , Lt . Gerald W . Rahill , USNR , in command . World War II Pacific Theatre operations . After fitting out at San Francisco , California , " Beltrami " got underway on 21 January for shakedown operations out of San Pedro , California . There , her crew members practiced loading and unloading cargo and familiarized themselves with the cargo ship ' s diesel engines . On 8 February , she loaded frozen food and steamed north to Longview , Washington . There , the cargo ship received a load of lumber from the Weyerhauser Co . before sailing west to Hawaii , arriving in Pearl Harbor on 1 March . Over the next two weeks , the crew unloaded lumber at Port Allen , Kauai , and Nawiliwili Bay , Kauai , before returning to Pearl Harbor . Supplying South Pacific bases . Assigned to the Service Force , Pacific Fleet , " Beltrami " sailed for the Solomon Islands on 21 March . Arriving at Guadalcanal on 3 April , the cargo ship discharged her supplies and immediately began loading for a supply run to the Admiralty Islands . Underway from the Solomons on the 8th , she arrived at Manus Island on 12 April . After unloading her cargo — Manus was a support base for the ongoing operations in the Philippines and the Ryukyus - - " Beltrami " sailed to Ulithi , Caroline Islands , on the 25th , anchoring there four days later . Supporting troops in the Philippines . Tasked with supporting the Okinawa campaign , " Beltrami " proceeded to the Philippines on 20 May , arriving in San Pedro Bay , Leyte , on 25 May . She then spent the next month discharging and loading fleet freight before sailing for the Mariana Islands on 22 June . " Beltrami " operated at Apra Harbor , Guam , for the next four weeks before heading to Ulithi on 21 July . She remained in reserve at that atoll through the end of the war on 15 August . End - of - war activity . " Beltrami " sailed to the Philippines late in August and spent nine weeks operating in the Leyte area , providing passenger and cargo service to the forces ashore . On 8 November , tasked with supporting American occupation forces in China , the cargo ship departed San Pedro Bay for Shanghai , arriving there on 16 November . She remained there until leaving for California on 27 January 1946 , mooring in San Francisco harbor on 23 February . Assigned to the East Coast . Ordered to the U . S . East Coast , " Beltrami " got underway on 15 March , passed through the Panama Canal on the 28th , and arrived in Norfolk , Virginia , on 8 April . Preparations for Operation Nanook . While at that base , the ship received orders to prepare for Operation Nanook — a project to set up a system of weather stations in the Arctic regions of the Western Hemisphere . She first made brief stops at Baltimore , Maryland , and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in mid - April , both to obtain cold weather gear and to receive equipment modifications for extended sub - zero operations . The cargo ship then sailed to New York , embarking LCVPs and picket boats in early May , before moving on to Boston , Massachusetts , to load a detachment of U . S . Marines . " Beltrami " sailed independently on 15 July , heading north toward the Strait of Belle Isle , Newfoundland . Above the Arctic Circle . On 25 July , after passing through the Labrador Sea and the Davis Strait , the cargo ship rendezvoused with the icebreaker " Northwind " ( WAG - 282 ) in Lancaster Sound , well above the Arctic Circle . Two days later , the ships entered Dundas Harbor , Devon Island , to disembark the marine detachment . Upon entering the harbor , " Northwind " grounded on an uncharted pinnacle but was refloated about ten hours later without serious damage . Meanwhile , the marine detachment went ashore and set up a temporary camp at the base of an inactive glacier . Greenland operations . " Beltrami " then proceeded to Thule , Greenland , where she joined the seaplane tender " Norton Sound " ( AV - 11 ) , net - laying ship " Whitewood " ( AN - 63 ) , and cargo ship " Alcona " ( AK - 157 ) in Task Force ( TF ) 68 . Her crew unloaded the cargo and heavy equipment needed to construct a weather station and an emergency airstrip , before the ship returned to Dundas Harbor on 20 August and reembarked the marines after their three - week field expedition . Returning to Thule on the 22d , she sailed for home two days later and arrived in Boston on 3 September . Cargo operations along the East Coast . Over the next two years , " Beltrami " plied the Atlantic coastal waters of North America , delivering general cargo from Bayonne , New Jersey , and Norfolk to naval stations as far south as the Panama Canal Zone and as far north as Argentia , Newfoundland . She also made regular visits to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; St . George , Bermuda ; and Roosevelt Roads , Puerto Rico . Service with the Sixth Fleet . On 11 February 1949 , following the permanent establishment of the U . S . 6th Fleet the previous year , the cargo ship began the first of three voyages to the Mediterranean Sea . She visited Casablanca , Morocco ; Athens , Greece ; and Haifa , Israel ; before coming back to Norfolk on 15 April . Beltrami returned to the Mediterranean between 8 October and 2 December of that year and again between 15 June and 7 August 1951 . In between these cruises , she also made one voyage to British ports , visiting Gibraltar , Plymouth , and Londonderry between 20 July and 8 September 1950 . Final operations . For the remainder of her service , " Beltrami " operated out of Earle , New Jersey , and Norfolk , primarily servicing ports and installations in the West Indies . Her most common duty was the shuttling of passengers and cargo between Guantánamo Bay , Roosevelt Roads , and Trinidad . Made obsolete by larger and faster cargo ships , " Beltrami " sailed from Norfolk to Charleston , South Carolina , in late July 1955 , arriving at the navy yard there on the 29th . Final decommissioning . Placed in commission , in reserve , on 1 August 1955 , she was towed to Savannah , Georgia , on 28 August , and was decommissioned on 10 November 1955 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 April 1960 , and she was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 21 June 1960 . She was sold for scrap to Hugo Neu Steel Products on 29 August 1960 . Military awards and honors . The record does not indicate battle stars for " Beltrami " . However , her crew was eligible for the following medals and campaign ribbons :