USS Canopus ( AS - 9 ) USS " Canopus " ( AS - 9 ) was a submarine tender in the United States Navy , named for the star Canopus . " Canopus " was launched in 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Company , Camden , New Jersey , as the passenger liner SS " Santa Leonora " for W . R . Grace and Company , but taken over by the Navy upon completion in July 1919 and placed in commission at that time as USS " Santa Leonora " . She was briefly employed as a trans - Atlantic troop transport before being decommissioned and transferred to the U . S . Army in September 1919 . The ship was reacquired by the Navy from the Shipping Board on 22 November 1921 . The ship was converted to a submarine tender , and commissioned at Boston on 24 January 1922 , Commander A . S . Wadsworth in command . Service history . 1922 – 1941 . " Canopus " reported to Submarine Force , Atlantic Fleet , and remained at Boston until 9 November 1922 , when she sailed for further fitting out at Coco Solo , Canal Zone , and San Pedro , California , her base as tender to the submarines of Division 9 until 17 July 1923 . Sailing to Pearl Harbor , " Canopus " tended Submarine Division 17 of the Battle Force with whom she sailed for permanent duty with the Asiatic Fleet in September 1924 . " Canopus " with her squadron of submarines arrived in the Philippines on 4 November 1924 . " Canopus " began her regular schedule of services in Manila Bay , and each summer based with the fleet at Tsingtao , China , with occasional training cruises to various Chinese and Japanese ports , and to the British and French colonies . Between 1927 and 1931 , the tender was flagship of submarine divisions , Asiatic Fleet , and later was attached to Submarine Division 10 , and was flagship of Submarine Squadron 5 . World War II , 1941 – 1942 . On 7 December 1941 , " Canopus " , aging but able , lay at Cavite Navy Yard , as tender to Submarine Squadron 20 . In the days that followed , her men worked day and night to repair ships damaged in the daily air raids as well as to keep her brood of submarines at sea . With the Army falling back on Manila , " Canopus " sailed to Mariveles Bay at the tip of Bataan on Christmas Day . On 29 December 1941 she received her first direct bomb hit . A 500 - pound armor - piercing bomb penetrated all decks and exploded on the propeller shaft housing . Six sailors were killed mostly from scalding and fires started in the engine rooms and magazines . The six men were buried at sea at 1735 hours in Mariveles Bay at the tip of Bataan . On 1 January 1942 she received a second direct bomb hit . This time a fragmentation bomb which exploded near the top of the towering smokestack resulting in substantial damage to the ship and injuries to 16 men of the gun crews . Disguised as a bombed out , listing , abandoned hulk , smoke pots were placed around the ship and giving the appearance of an abandoned hulk by day , while the ship hummed with activity by night . Her crew worked at a fevered pace repairing the smaller ships also left behind and keeping the submarines in action . Just before the New Year , the last of the submarines left " Canopus " , but she never quit as she cared for small craft and equipment of the Army and Navy , sent her men into battle in the improvised naval battalion which fought on Bataan , and converted her own launches into miniature gunboats dubbed Mickey Mouse Battleships which attacked the Japanese moving south near the shore . But the overwhelming Japanese strength could not be held off forever , and upon the surrender of Bataan on the night of 8 / 9 April 1942 CANOPUS was ordered scuttled in Mariveles Bay , Bataan , to deny her use to the enemy . On 9 April , she was backed off into deep water under her own power and the veteran whom the Japanese could not sink ended a lifetime of service to the Navy when she was laid to rest by her own men . 221 of her crewmen were evacuated to Corregidor on 28 February 1942 and served with the Marines 1st , 2nd , and 3rd Battalions on beach defenses . The final 327 crewmen were also evacuated to Corregidor and served in the 4 Marine Regiment ' s 4th Battalion Reserves ( Provisional ) which fought gallantly during the final battle for the island fortress . Nearly all " Canopus " crewmen were captured at the fall of Corregidor and spent the rest of the war in Japanese POW Camps in the Philippines and the Asia mainland . 212 were Killed / missing in Action . Awards . " Canopus " received one battle star for service in World War II .