USS Rigel ( AD - 13 ) USS " Rigel " ( AD - 13 / AR - 11 ) was a destroyer tender , the lone ship in her class , named for " Rigel " , the brightest star in the constellation Orion . Originally built in 1918 as SS " Edgecombe " by the Skinner and Eddy Corporation of Seattle , Washington for the United States Shipping Board , she was transferred to the United States Navy by Executive Order on 29 October 1921 , delivered 16 November 1921 , converted to a destroyer tender , and commissioned as USS " Rigel " on 24 February 1922 with Lieutenant E . G . Affleck in command . Service history . 1922 – 1941 . Following an extensive fitting out period and shakedown , " Rigel " was homeported at San Diego . During the interwar period she remained in southern California . While in San Diego at the Navy Destroyer Base , 11th Naval District , her skipper was Captain Frucht . Lt . Cmdr . William E . Lund was the supply officer for the 11th Naval District and was attached to the Regal . USS Regal ( and it was spelled with an E , not an I ) had one unique feature — she was the only naval vessel in the 1930s to maintain quarters for the captain ' s wife ! My parents and I had dinner aboard at the invitation of Mrs . Susie Frucht . We were served by Filipino mess boys in a small but elegant mess which had one wall outfitted as a goldfish aquarium . This situation with the captain ' s wife living aboard continued until Mrs . Frucht decided to keep a bee hive on deck . When sailors complained of being stung , the captain and his lady bought a home in Point Loma and moved ashore . 1941 – 1942 . Redesignated a repair ship , AR - 11 , on 10 April 1941 , she underwent overhaul at Bremerton , Washington then sailed to Hawaii for more extensive repairs and alterations . By mid - July , she was at Pearl Harbor and was still in the yard on 7 December 1941 . She was without her authorized armament and superstructure and was slightly damaged during the Japanese attack . Her crew , unable to fire , immediately turned their skills to rescue and salvage operations . Conversion work on " Rigel " was completed on 7 April 1942 . On 20 April , with four 3 - inch guns mounted , she got underway for the $ 3 . Steaming first to Fanning Island , she disembarked U . S . Army units and material and embarked personnel of New Zealand ' s Pacific Island Force and civilian evacuees . On the 28th , she continued westward and on 16 May arrived at Auckland to add her equipment and personnel to the repair and construction facilities offered by that port . Between then and November she converted merchant ships and tugboats to Navy use , repaired other merchantmen , installed and repaired guns on merchant ships ; trained armed guard crews , served as flagship for Vice Admiral Robert L . Ghormley , and as store ship and receiving ship ; provided printing facilities ; assisted in the construction of shore facilities ; and added ten 20 mm guns to her own armament , in addition to her assigned duties of repairing Allied warships and auxiliaries . In November , she was again called on to substitute as a transport . On the 8th , she embarked Army units and on the 9th , she sailed for New Caledonia . Arriving at Nouméa on 14 November , she shifted to Espiritu Santo two days later and contributed her skills to the Guadalcanal campaign . 1943 – 1944 . In mid - January 1943 , she shifted to Efate , and , on 24 April , got underway to return to the South Pacific where the 7th Amphibious Force was being formed . " Rigel " arrived at Sydney on 1 May , moved on to Brisbane on the 15th and until 14 June helped take the pressure off repair facilities there . But the 7th Amphibious Force ' s first assault landing was imminent and " Rigel ' s " assistance was needed in the forward area . On 21 June the repair ship arrived in Milne Bay , New Guinea , and on the 22nd Rear Admiral Daniel E . Barbey , Commander , 7th Amphibious Force , raised his flag . On the 30th , the force landed troops on Woodlark and Kiriwina and the encirclement of Rabaul from the south was initiated . For the next 6½ months " Rigel " remained at Milne Bay , repairing ships from LST s , LCI s , and MTB s to tankers , cruiser s , and battleship s . By December , Allied forces had moved up the coast to dispute control of $ 3 and Dampier Strait s . In December , landings were made on New Britain at Arawe and Cape Gloucester , and in January 1944 , at Finschhafen and Saidor in New Guinea . " Rigel " , no longer Admiral Barbey ' s flagship , soon followed . Again bringing her vital equipment and trained men closer to the front , she moved to Cape Sudest , thence proceeded to Buna where her crew continued their round - the - clock schedule from 13 January until 9 June . From Buna she moved up the coast to Alexishafen , whence , in late August , she returned to Australia for a much needed overhaul . She was at Sydney during the initial thrust into the Philippines , but in November returned to New Guinea and continued her work at Hollandia , 22 November to 10 January 1945 . On the latter date she got underway for the Philippines . 1945 – 1946 . " Rigel " arrived in Leyte Gulf on 15 January . On the 16th she anchored in San Pedro Bay , where she remained through the end of the War . After brief postwar service , " Rigel " returned to the United States for inactivation . She was decommissioned on 11 July 1946 and was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 12 July 1946 , her final fate unknown . " Rigel " earned four battle star s during World War II .