USS Betelgeuse ( AKA - 11 ) USS " Betelgeuse " ( AK - 28 / AKA - 11 ) was an , the first United States Navy ship named for Betelgeuse , a star in the constellation " Orion " . She served as a commissioned ship for 4 years and 9 months . History . Acquisition . " Betelgeuse " was laid down as a C - 2D on 9 March 1939 at Chester , Pennsylvania , by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . , Hull 180 under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 31 ) ; launched as Mormaclark on 18 September 1939 ; sponsored by Miss Anne Perry Woodward ; delivered to the Moore McCormack Line , Inc . , on 29 November 1939 ; acquired by the Navy on 29 May 1941 ; renamed " Betelgeuse " on 3 June 1941 ; converted for naval service by the Brewer Dry Dock Company , Staten Island , N . Y . ; and commissioned as AK - 28 on 14 June , Commander Harry D . Power in command . From her commissioning nearly through the fall of 1941 , the cargo ship operated in the Atlantic conducting amphibious maneuvers off North Carolina in June and July , performing similar evolutions off Virginia in September , and carrying cargo to Bermuda and various ports in the West Indies during October . She then entered the Charleston Navy Yard for an overhaul and was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December . 1942 , South Pacific . Early in January 1942 , " Betelgeuse " loaded Army cargo and , on 19 February , got underway in convoy for Belfast , Northern Ireland , and Clydebank , Scotland . Returning to New York on 25 March , she took on more supplies and sailed on 8 April with a convoy bound for the Tonga Islands , where the Navy was setting up an advanced base to consolidate the defenses of the communication and logistics lines with Australia . On 9 May , the convoy arrived at Tongatapu which the Navy was developing as a fuel base , an alternate air cargo staging port , an air support point for Fiji and Samoa , and a safe harbor for hospital ship . " Betelgeuse " set course for San Diego on 7 June , loaded cargo there , and got underway again on 1 July . At Pearl Harbor , she joined Task Force 62 ( TF 62 ) which had assembled for the invasion of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands . Leaving Hawaii on 31 July and arriving in " Ironbottom Sound " off Guadalcanal on 7 August , " Betelgeuse " quickly unloaded her cargo in the face of Japanese air attacks . On the day after the landings , she shot down two enemy planes . For the next five months , the cargo ship made resupply and reinforcement voyages to Guadalcanal and Tulagi in support of the campaign to overcome the stubborn Japanese resistance there . Although she only stood off the beaches for 15 days out of that period , she claimed eight enemy planes while sustaining only minor damage herself . Primarily , " Betelgeuse " hauled supplies to Guadalcanal from Espiritu Santo and Efate , New Hebrides ; from Nouméa , New Caledonia ; and from Wellington and Auckland , New Zealand . On 1 September , she landed the first men of the Naval Construction Battalions ( " Seabees " ) on Guadalcanal to improve Henderson Field and to build other facilities . While unloading supplies at Guadalcanal on 21 November , the ship grounded after developing engine problems that would hamper her repeatedly during the ensuing year . After temporary repairs , the cargo ship got underway on Christmas Day and headed for the California coast . She arrived in San Pedro on 9 January 1943 and underwent additional repairs . Reclassified an attack cargo ship , AKA - 11 , on 1 February , " Betelgeuse " sailed for the east coast and arrived at Charleston , South Carolina , on 8 March for the alterations that would fit her for her new role . With her holds specially modified for rapid unloading during combat , she went to sea early in April to begin a month ' s training in Chesapeake Bay . 1943 – 44 , Mediterranean . On 10 May , the ship sailed for the Mediterranean to participate in the invasion of Sicily as part of TF 81 , codenamed " Dime " force . Following rehearsals at Algiers in June , TF 81 landed at Gela on 10 July in one of the most bitterly contested operations in Sicily . From her position off the beach immediately to starboard of Rear Admiral John L . Hall ' s flagship , " Betelgeuse " closely observed the action . Owing to rough seas , night unloading , and poor beach conditions , the attack cargo ship lost several landing craft . One of her sailors was killed by wild fire from a landing craft during an air raid . Moreover , her old engine problems returned . Her propulsion plant broke down while she was in the swept channel and the ship drifted helplessly through enemy minefield s before regaining control of her helm and averting disaster . On 24 July , she sailed for home for overhaul . " Betelgeuse " arrived at Norfolk , Virginia on 14 August and spent the next eight months in repair yards along the east coast . The repairs to her main engine were successfully completed at her builder ' s yard in Chester ; and , on 4 May 1944 , she got underway for the Mediterranean . After preinvasion training off Salerno in June and early July , the " Camel " force , of which " Betelgeuse " was part , formed up at Palermo and set out for the southern coast of France . The invasion of Provence proved to be a quiet and quick operation . She remained in the invasion area only two days to unload her cargo at Red Beach in the Golfe de Frejus . The ship then made five more trips from ports in North Africa to points along the French and Italian coasts carrying equipment and troops to feed the Allied advances . 1945 , Pacific . The cargo ship departed the Mediterranean on 25 September 1944 and returned to the United States to have improved communications and radar gear installed . On New Year ' s Day 1945 , she got underway for the Pacific theater . After transiting the Panama Canal and steaming to Hawaii , " Betelgeuse " took on a load of Army cargo at Pearl Harbor and steamed to Guadalcanal for practice landings in preparation for the invasion of the Ryukyus . She then stopped at Ulithi for fuel and more provisions , before heading for Okinawa . " Betelgeuse " stood off the Hagushi beaches on D - Day , 1 April , and began unloading her cargo . Her labors proceeded smoothly and efficiently until the 6th , when the Japanese mounted major kamikaze air attacks . During the ensuing raids , four of her men received minor wounds from flying shell fragments ; but the ship herself sustained only minor damage from strafing . On 9 April , " Betelgeuse " departed Okinawa and headed for Port Chicago , California , whence she made two shuttle runs carrying ammunition to Pearl Harbor before the war ended . Upon learning of Japan ' s surrender on 15 August , " Betelgeuse " sailed from San Francisco for the Philippines to embark troops at Lingayen Gulf , Manila , and Batangas for occupation duty in Otaru on Hokkaidō in Japan . After that task , she returned to the Philippines , at Samar , where she embarked Seabees for passage to China . Arriving at Tientsin on 10 November , she received orders that sent her to Guam , Pearl Harbor , and San Francisco to carry returning soldiers home in time for Christmas . " Betelgeuse " departed the west coast on 28 December and headed for New York . She was decommissioned at the New York Naval Shipyard on 15 March 1946 , and her name was struck from the Navy List on 28 March . Refitted for merchant service , she operated as " Mormaclark " until sold on 27 June 1947 to Compania de La Paloma , S . A . , out of Ancon , Canal Zone , under the name " Star Betelgeuse " . In 1949 , she still operated under the Panamanian flag ; but her owner was then Compania Naviera . Sold for scrapping in 1972 , the ship arrived at Kaohsiung , Taiwan , 7 April 1972 for dismantling . Awards . " Betelgeuse " earned six battle stars for her World War II service .