USS Venus ( AK - 135 ) The USS " Venus " ( AK - 135 ) was a " Crater " - class cargo ship in the service of the United States Navy in World War II . Originally liberty ship SS " William Williams " ( named after William Williams a signer of the Declaration of Independence ) , it was taken over by the Navy after being damaged in a torpedo attack and renamed after the planet Venus . It was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name . SS " William Williams " was laid down on 5 July 1942 under a Maritime Commission contract ( MCE hull 263 ) by Permanente Metals Corporation , Yard No . 2 , Richmond , California ; launched on 21 August ; sponsored by Mrs . Paul S . Marrin ; was delivered to her owners , the Isthmian Steamship Lines , on 8 September ; and operated in the Pacific for the remainder of 1942 and into 1943 . The ship was commanded by Captain William Robinson Freeman Sr . up until the time she was torpedoed . On 2 May 1943 , while near Suva , Fiji Islands , " William Williams " was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine " I - 19 " , commanded by Lt . Takaichi Kinashi who , while commanding this I - boat , had torpedoed " Wasp " ( CV - 7 ) , " North Carolina " ( BB - 55 ) , and " O ’ Brien " ( DD - 415 ) with the same spread of torpedoes off Guadalcanal on 15 September 1942 . At the time she was torpedoed , she was carrying lumber . Any other time , she would have been carrying munitions and surely would have been lost . With quick thinking by Captain Freeman , he ordered an immediate abandonment of the ship by most of her crew but Captain Freeman stayed behind with a small crew to put out the fires . Captain Freeman also ordered the radio operator , " Sparks " as they were called , to send out a distress signal that they were sinking rapidly with the hope that the Japanese ship would intercept the message . Believing the ship would blow from a cargo of munitions or believing that the ship was sinking and seeing the crew so hastily leave the ship , the Japanese vessel cleared the area believing a fatal blow had been struck . After the fires were put out , the crew returned and the " William Williams " built steam to continue to port . A Navy tug was sent out to pull her in but if need be , the " William Williams " could have made it on her own . Captain Freeman received a commendation for saving the " William Williams " . The " William Williams " was towed to Fiji and thence to Auckland , New Zealand , where the Navy acquired the ship on 6 November 1943 from the War Shipping Administration under a bareboat charter . Enough repairs to make the ship seaworthy were effected , and she was commissioned as " Venus " on 10 November , Lt . Comdr . George H . L . Peet in command . Towed from Auckland , " Venus " arrived at Sydney , Australia , where she was decommissioned and placed " in service " on 4 December . The ship was one of five Navy manned Liberties assigned 8 December 1943 to the Southwest Pacific Area for service under operational control of the Commander , Seventh Fleet in meeting Army requirements ; however , due to the damage and delay another Liberty was assigned . Docking and conversion work at the port were delayed due to higher priorities being assigned to other ships and labor troubles at the dockyards themselves . Once these obstacles were overcome , work proceeded apace — a difficult task because the conversion was accomplished in a foreign yard with non - standard materials . Designated AK - 135 , the ship was placed back in commission on 26 September 1944 . On 4 October , she commenced her shakedown and soon loaded general cargo and dry provisions before she sailed for the Admiralties on 26 October . She reached Manus four days later and discharged some of her cargo . There , she also received her main battery , a single 5 - inch , dual - purpose gun . The ship witnessed an air raid on 9 November , but the attack was directed at another vicinity , and the cargo vessel did not participate in the action . The following day , " Mount Hood " ( AE - 11 ) blew up in a cataclysmic explosion while handling ammunition at Seeadler Harbor . All but a few of her crew ( those who were ashore at the time ) were killed in the blast which not only atomized the ammunition ship but severely damaged other ships nearby . " Venus " responded to this emergency by sending a boat to assist in medical operations with 30 units of blood plasma . During the ship ' s stay at Manus , several cases of diphtheria developed on board , and all hands were restricted to the ship . On 28 November , " Venus " sailed for Dutch New Guinea , arrived at Hollandia the following day , and stayed until Christmas Eve , when she headed for Aitape — arriving there on Christmas Day . On 27 December 1944 , the cargo vessel got underway for Cape Sansapor , where she supplied LST ’ s attached to Task Group ( TG ) 77 . 5 , which later took part in the landings at Lingayen Gulf . Proceeding to Morotai upon completion of these operations , she unloaded the remainder of her cargo and fueled various small craft of the Royal Australian Navy . On 4 January 1945 , during " Venus " ’ stay at Morotai , Japanese aircraft conducted a bombing raid on the nearby land base , but the planes were driven off by antiaircraft fire and night fighters . Six days later , " Venus " , her holds empty , sailed with five other ships to Hollandia , where she took on board passengers . While proceeding thence to Australia , she encountered heavy gales but arrived safely at Brisbane on 23 January . The ship underwent repairs soon after she arrived while concurrently loading equipment of the 109th Fleet Hospital unit and of the 544th Construction Battalion ( CB or " Seabees " ) for transport to the Philippine Islands . She departed Brisbane on 4 February , proceeded via Manus and Hollandia , and joined a convoy off the Dutch New Guinea coast . The Allied ships arrived at Guiuan Roadstead off Samar on 27 February . Part of the Seabee unit soon went ashore to begin building the hospital , while the remainder stayed on board to unload equipment and stores . Eventually , as more Seabees could be accommodated ashore , the job of unloading passed on to " Venus " ’ crew . Despite the lack of barges and experienced stevedores , " Venus " succeeded in unloading all equipment and supplies earmarked for the hospital unit before she joined a southbound convoy on 8 April , got underway for the Admiralties , and arrived at Manus one week later . Proceeding thence to Emirau , " Venus " loaded the remnants of the 77th Construction Battalion and their equipment , accomplishing this on 25 April before getting underway for Brisbane to load more of the 77th Battalion ' s equipment . Besides the full load of cargo , " Venus " also accommodated 600 passengers , and additional galley and bunking facilities were set up on deck beneath makeshift shelters to take care of these men . The cargo vessel then headed north for the Philippines , via Milne Bay , and arrived at Manila on 13 June to commence offloading and to disembark her passengers . Five days later , the ship shifted to a berth alongside a sunken Japanese cargo ship . With the erstwhile enemy freighter serving as a dock , " Venus " offloaded the remainder of her cargo — experiencing two air raid alerts during her stay at Manila — and completed these operations by 30 June . She then pressed southward for the Admiralties and loaded 1 , 500 tons of bombs for transport to Bougainville in the Solomons . The installation of a gyro compass delayed her sailing until 25 July , but the ship arrived at Empress Augusta Bay on 29 July . Eleven days later , " Venus " departed Torokina , Bougainville , bound for the New Hebrides and arrived at Espiritu Santo on 11 August . She loaded material for drydock " ABSD - 1 " , loading from lighters in Pallikulo Bay . Due to poor loading conditions , the job was not completed until 7 September , when she was ready to sail for the Philippine Islands . During her stay at Espiritu Santo , word arrived that Japan had surrendered ; and , for the first time since commissioning , the ship could sail at night without having to " darken ship . " " Venus " arrived at Samar on 20 September and discharged her cargo before moving on to Subic Bay . She sailed from Cebu on 15 December , bound for the Hawaiian Islands , and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 March . Decommissioned on 18 April 1946 , the ship was subsequently towed by " Hitchiti " ( ATF - 103 ) to the west coast , departing Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1947 and arriving at San Francisco on 13 December . Declared surplus to Navy needs , the ship was struck from the Navy list on 19 February 1948 . Stripped for disposal , she was returned to the Maritime Commission on the 27th and was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay , California . The ship was scrapped at Oakland , California , in August 1961 . " Venus " received one battle star for her service during World War II as " William Williams " . Her crew were eligible for the following medals :