USS Venango ( AKA - 82 ) USS " Venango " ( AKA - 82 ) was a of the United States Navy named after Venango County , Pennsylvania . She was designed to carry military cargo and landing craft , and to use the latter to land weapons , supplies , and Marines on enemy shores during amphibious operations . She served as a commissioned ship for 15 months . " Venango " was laid down as a Type C2 - S - AJ3 ship under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1391 ) on 6 June 1944 at Wilmington , North Carolina , by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company ; launched on 9 August 1944 ; sponsored by Miss Alana Jane Matthes ; placed briefly in service from 25 August to 30 August 1944 while being towed to New York harbor for conversion by the Bethlehem Steel Co . , Hoboken , N . J . ; and commissioned on 2 January 1945 , Lieutenant Commander Thurman A . Whitaker , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1945 . Following trials in Long Island Sound and shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay , the new attack cargo ship got underway from Norfolk on 2 February ; transited the Panama Canal on the 8th ; and reached Pearl Harbor on Washington ' s Birthday . There , she reported to Amphibious Forces , Pacific , for duty as a unit of Transport Division ( TransDiv ) 63 . She commenced discharging cargo on the 27th and , the following day , was reassigned to TransDiv 56 . After unloading the cargo she had taken on at Norfolk , " Venango " proceeded on 4 March to Army Transport Pier 26 at Honolulu and began taking on cargo for the impending assault on Okinawa . On the 14th , she embarked troops , vehicles , and gear of the Army ' s 82nd Signal Construction Battalion . The next day , she got underway for a staging point in the Marshalls . On the 23rd , she anchored at Eniwetok ; then , on the 25th , again got underway and steamed for the Western Carolines . Off Ulithi on the 29th , she rode out a typhoon — high winds and heavy squalls — and then entered the lagoon the next day and anchored . With elements of Task Group 55 . 8 steaming in a four - column formation , she departed Ulithi on the afternoon of the 13th and headed for the Ryūkyūs . About dawn on 17 April , lookouts on the attack cargo ship sighted Okinawa off the ship ' s starboard beam , some 16 miles away . Later that morning , she anchored off Okinawa and began unloading her boats at 1830 . In the days that followed , " Venango " continued discharging the troops , cargo , and equipment of the 82nd Signal Battalion . Often at dawn and dusk , the call to general quarters alerted all hands that enemy air raiders were nearby . Although " Venango " sighted no Japanese planes , enemy raiders hit numerous nearby land targets as the cargo ship lay at anchor off Okinawa . On 22 April , she departed the Ryukyus and reached Saipan on the 27th . On 1 May , she shifted from the anchorage to a dock in Tanapag harbor to load equipment and cargo of the 21st Naval Construction Battalion for transportation to Okinawa . Two days later , she departed Saipan in convoy and , on the 27th , stood into Nakafusuku Wan . Numerous air raids alerts marked the days that followed . An hour after midnight on 31 May , " Venango " began discharging her cargo . Frequent alerts continued as she emptied her holds . On 3 June , a Japanese bomber splashed in the transport area ; and , the next day , " Venango " made an emergency sortie with a six - ship merchant convoy to ride out an approaching typhoon . However , the typhoon did not strike Okinawa ; and " Venango " returned to Nakagusuku Wan on the 5th and resumed unloading . On the 6th , action picked up ; and observers on the cargo ship witnessed the air attack in which destroyer minelayers and shot down six Japanese aircraft , despite serious damage to both ships by kamikazes . " Venango " departed Okinawa in convoy on the 19th and steamed via Saipan to Pearl Harbor where she arrived on 29 June . She shifted berths to Honolulu harbor on 7 July . There , she loaded miscellaneous cargo , including beer , lumber , cement , and tar , before getting underway on the 13th and steaming independently for the Western Carolines . The same day , main engine damage forced her to reverse her course ; and , on the 14th , she found herself back at Pearl Harbor for repairs . The attack cargo ship again departed Oahu on the 23rd , proceeded independently via Ulithi , and arrived at Hydrographer Bank in the Palaus on 6 August . Anchored between Peleliu and Angaur , she loaded cargo and got underway late the following afternoon . She entered Leyte Gulf on the morning of 9 August , unloaded cargo , and was anchored in Guiuan Roadstead off Samar on the 15th , when Japan capitulated . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1946 . After discharging the remainder of her cargo , she began taking on 8th Army troops and equipment on 1 September . Underway on the 3rd , she anchored in Manila Bay on the 5th ; then , two days later , joined the sortie of Transport Squadron ( TransRon ) 24 , bound for Yokohama . Early on the morning of the 13th , the ships formed a single column and steamed into Tokyo Bay . " Venango " docked at Yokohama to unload her cargo and , on the 18th , weathered a typhoon . The following day , she departed Tokyo Bay in company with TransRon 24 and set her course for Guam . She arrived at Apra Harbor on the 23rd , loaded cargo of the 3rd Marines , 6th Marine Division and , on the 30th , set her course in convoy for China . On 12 October , she moored at Tsingtao and began discharging cargo . Still in company with TransRon 24 , she departed the Chinese coast on 17 October and anchored in Manila Bay on the 23rd . In November , she carried elements of the 52nd Chinese Army from Haiphong to Chinwangtao , China ; then , on the 20th , she departed the Gulf of Pohai off Taku and set her course for the west coast of the United States . Early on the morning of 6 December , she entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and , in mid - afternoon , moored at the Naval Station , Seattle , and discharged her passengers . Following repairs , she got underway on 1 February 1946 and steamed via San Francisco and the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived on the 25th . Decommissioning and Sale . She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 18 April 1946 ; and , on 22 April , she was returned to the War Shipping Administration . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1946 . Sold to the Waterman Steamship Corporation , she operated out of Mobile , Alabama , beginning in 1947 . In March 1952 she was transferred to Isbrandtsen Co , Inc . and for more than 10 years operated out of New York under the name SS " Flying Eagle " . On 31 August 1962 Isbrandtsen sold the ship to American Export Lines . American Export and Isbrandtsen merged into a conglomerate on 8 June 1964 bringing her into the fold of the newly combined American Export - Isbrandtsen Lines . She was sold again to Valmar Shipping on 21 November 1968 for the sum of $ 957 , 818 ( US ) and renamed SS " Southern Star " . On 17 February she was sold to the Polembros Group of Greece and renamed SS " Anna " ; she was reflagged Panamanian at this time as well . The old AKA was sold for the last time in February 1971 and subsequently scrapped at Bilbao , Spain . Awards . " Venango " received one battle star for service in World War II .