USS Pastores ( AF - 16 ) USS Pastores ( AF - 16 ) was a Pastores class store ship acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War I and re - acquired during World War II . " Pastores " served as a stores ship , responsible for delivering supplies to military personnel in combat and non - combat areas . She served in both World War I and II , and was awarded one battle star during World War II . Service history . " Pastores " was built by Workman Clark , Ltd . , Belfast , Northern Ireland in 1913 ; acquired by the U . S . Navy from United Fruit Company on 1 May 1918 ; and commissioned on 6 May 1918 . World War I . " Pastores " was one of the merchant ships chartered by the Navy during World War I to transport U . S . forces to Europe , through submarine - infested waters . " Pastores " began this service in the closing months of 1917 , and she encountered several submarines during her early Naval service . Departing New York in convoy on 20 December 1917 , she was 900 miles off the coast of France in January 1918 , when a submarine appeared astern . , one of the ships of the convoy , fired one shot at the submarine , which was not seen again . On 9 January , after the convoy had been joined by destroyer escort in the Bay of Biscay , a submarine attacked ; the convoy fired 15 shots at the boat , not seen again . " Pastores " sighted submarines again during convoy crossings in August and September . After war ' s end , " Pastores " transported troops back to the United States . She decommissioned and was returned to the United Fruit Company on 8 October 1919 and served on the West Indies – Central American run until 20 December 1941 , when acquired by War Shipping Administration , from whom the Navy again chartered her . World War II . On 23 January 1942 the Navy reacquired her on bareboat charter ; she recommissioned 13 February 1942 as AF – 16 , Capt . C . L . Andrews in command . Serving as a provision store ship , " Pastores " carried food and war material for the Allies . Serving under Com Service Force Atlantic in 1942 , " Pastores " proceeded into the submarine - infested Caribbean . On 16 June she picked up 36 survivors of , victim of . Later in the month , she stopped Italian tankers " Arcola " and " Taigeter " but , after investigation , let them pass . " Pastores " supplied forces on Trinidad , Cuba , Bermuda , and other Caribbean islands with fresh food and returned to the United States with full cargoes of sugar . " Pastores " continued this duty until transiting the Panama Canal in November 1943 to join the war against Japan . Operating from San Francisco , California , and Pearl Harbor in 1944 , the ship discharged her chilled and frozen cargo to the fighting fleet and shore bases in the Ellice , Gilbert , Marshall , and New Hebrides Islands . Stopping at Espiritu Santo , Milne Bay , Finschhafen , and Biak with fresh holiday provisions from San Francisco in early October , she finished unloading her cargo at San Pedro Bay , Leyte . The first reefer ship at Leyte Gulf after the invasion , she arrived before receiving facilities were ready on the beach and thus dodged Japanese aircraft until able to unload . From San Pedro Bay , she proceeded to the Admiralties and New Zealand . For almost a year , she carried food supplies to New Guinea ports , the Philippines , Palaus , Admiralties , Solomons , and Russell Islands . With the end of war in sight , she headed for Pearl Harbor , where she received word of the victory . In October she departed San Francisco with fresh holiday food for forces on Leyte . Returning to San Francisco , " Pastores " decommissioned on 14 March 1946 and was transferred to War Shipping Administration . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 March 1946 and was sold to Walter W . Johnson Co . for scrapping 19 December 1946 .