USS Shasta ( AE - 6 ) USS " Shasta " ( AE - 6 ) , an ammunition ship , was laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 125 ) on 12 August 1940 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company , Tampa , Fla . , initially as a C2 type cargo ship . She was acquired by the Navy on 16 April 1941 and launched on 9 July 1941 , sponsored by Mrs . Spessard L . Holland . She was commissioned on 20 January 1942 with Capt . Francis A . Smith in command . She was named after Mount Shasta , a volcano in the Cascade Range in northern California , USA . Wartime voyages . On 19 November 1942 , " Shasta " departed Alameda , Calif . , for Noumea , New Caledonia , on the first of her ten wartime transpacific voyages . At the western end of each voyage , she moved from island to island replenishing the ammunition supplies of the Battle Fleet . With one exception , a deployment to Adak , Alaska , in support of the Attu and Kiska operations , " Shasta ' s " activities centered around the campaigns in the western Pacific . Her cargo supported the campaigns against the Gilberts , the Marianas , the Palaus , and the Philippines . Career highlights . The highlights of " Shasta ' s " wartime career came in 1945 . In February , she participated in the first successful underway replenishment of ammunition . Later , while re - supplying the warships supporting the assault on Iwo Jima , she came under the fire of Japanese shore batteries . Her most harrowing experience occurred on 5 June when she was battered by the force fourteen winds of a typhoon off the southeastern coast of Okinawa . Though her cargo had shifted and much of it had been damaged , " Shasta " still managed a successful rearming rendezvous before sailing for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines . Leyte Gulf . Her cargo operations complete , " Shasta " departed Leyte Gulf and joined TG 30 . 8 on 17 July 1945 . After a short replenishment cruise , she returned to Leyte Gulf for more cargo . The end of the war found " Shasta " taking on cargo from Victory ship s . She remained at Leyte Gulf until 25 October , at which time she sailed for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard via Eniwetok Atoll . Following inactivation overhaul , she was decommissioned at San Diego on 10 August 1946 . Recommissioned . After almost six years of inactivity in the Pacific Reserve Fleet , " Shasta " was recommissioned on 15 July 1953 . Under the command of Capt . Peter M . Gaviglio , she departed San Diego on 26 November 1953 and joined the Atlantic Service Fleet at Norfolk on 12 November . At the completion of modernization overhaul at Norfolk and underway replenishment training off Newport , R . I . , " Shasta " sailed on 7 January for her first Mediterranean deployment . For the next eleven years , she alternated between cruises with the 6th Fleet and Atlantic seaboard operations . She provided ammunition supply support to the 6th Fleet during the Jordanian crisis of May 1957 and the Lebanese crisis of August 1958 . Special projects . During her assignments to the continental United States , " Shasta " participated in several special projects . She acted as a target ship for nuclear submarines , tested instruments on a dummy Polaris missile attached to her keel , and took part in NATO exercises . In June 1959 , " Shasta " helped test a recently developed torpedo counter - measure known as Project “ Phoenix ” . On 14 September 1966 , " Shasta " steamed out of Norfolk on a final visit to the Far East . She transited the Panama Canal on 20 September , called briefly at Pearl Harbor , and arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippines on 26 October . She remained in the Far East , either at Subic Bay or on Yankee Station , until 22 April 1967 . On that day , she started her return voyage to Norfolk . Arriving at Norfolk on 8 June , Shasta completed her only circumnavigation of the globe . During this voyage , she transited the Suez Canal and stopped at Valleta , Malta ; and Barcelona , Spain . Final deployment . Following overhaul , " Shasta " weighed anchor for what was to be her final deployment . En route to Rota , Spain , and assignment with the 6th Fleet , she was diverted to assist in the unsuccessful search for nuclear submarine , USS " Scorpion " ( SSN - 589 ) , which was lost with all hands off the Azores . Main engine difficulties caused " Shasta " to cut short her projected six - month deployment and return to Norfolk for major repairs . She was placed in a reduced operating status until 1 July 1969 , when her name was struck from the Navy list . On 24 March 1970 , " Shasta " was sold to Mr . Isaac Valera of Madrid for scrapping by the Spanish company , Revalorizacionde Materials , S . A . Awards and honors . " Shasta " received five battle star s for World War II and one for Vietnam service . References .