USS Zebra ( AKN - 5 ) USS " Zebra " ( AKN - 5 ) was an in the service of the United States Navy in World War II . Named after the animal Zebra , it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name . " Zebra " was laid down 18 March 1943 as Liberty ship SS " Matthew Lyon " ( MCE hull 535 ) by Permanente Metals Corporation , Richmond No . 1 Yard , Richmond , California , under a Maritime Commission contract ; launched on 11 April 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Harry H . Feldhahn ; and delivered to the War Shipping Administration ( WSA ) on 26 April 1943 . Service history . As SS " Matthew Lyon " , 1943 . Operated for the WSA by a civilian contractor , Dichmann W . & P . , the ship plied the waters of the Pacific during the summer of 1943 . On 12 August , while voyaging to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides , she received severe damage as the result of a torpedo fired by . Several days later , the freighter limped into Espiritu Santo and languished there in Segond Channel for several weeks , apparently headed for scrapping . Commissioned as " Zebra " . Late in September , a naval officer recognized her potential for emergency service as a net cargo ship ; and , on 1 October 1943 , she was placed in service as " Zebra " ( IX - 107 ) . Her subsequent success in that role prompted her complete conversion to a net cargo ship and her total rehabilitation to operable status . On 15 February 1944 , the ship was redesignated AKN - 5 , and " Zebra " was placed in commission on 27 February 1944 , while in drydock at Espiritu Santo , Lt . Comdr . Robert D . Abernethy , USNR , in command . Salvaging net gear , 1944 . During the first three months of her commissioned service , " Zebra " remained at Espiritu Santo completing her partial conversion to a net cargo ship . She began her first mission on 1 June , when she started loading a cargo of reclaimed net material and put to sea on 8 June , bound for New Caledonia . The ship arrived in Nouméa on 11 June , unloaded her net material , and took on a general cargo destined for the Fiji Islands . She departed Nouméa on 19 June , arrived at Suva three days later , unloaded , and began taking on reclaimed net material . On 27 June , she moved to the other side of the island where she began loading material salvaged from the Nandi net installations . The ship completed loading on 5 July and headed back to New Caledonia that same day . " Zebra " entered Nouméa on 8 July and discharged her load of salvaged net gear . Following 10 days at Nouméa , the net cargo ship embarked upon a circuit of various South Pacific islands to collect nets and equipment salvaged from the harbor defense installations . Through the remainder of the summer , the ship visited Tongatapu ; Bora Bora ; Tutuila and Upolu , Samoa ; and Funafuti . At each island , she stopped long enough to unload part of the general cargo she had taken on at Nouméa and pick up each installation ' s salvaged net gear . She departed her last port of call on that voyage , Funafuti in the Ellice Islands , on 23 August and returned to Nouméa five days later . Palau Islands . " Zebra " remained at Nouméa until 15 September . On that day , she embarked upon a voyage which took her closer to war and which brought her first actual net - laying mission . The ship arrived in Eniwetok lagoon on 24 September and remained there until 3 October when she continued on toward the Western Carolines . Reaching Ulithi Atoll on 8 October , the net cargo ship immediately began installing net gear around the anchorage with two of her sister ships , and . They completed their mission by 10 November , and " Zebra " loaded the unused net material for transportation to the Palaus . She departed Ulithi that same day and entered Barnum Bay near Peleliu two days later . While the fighting on Peleliu continued , the net cargo ship assembled a net installation for the protection of a wharf about to be constructed at the island . She concluded that portion of her mission on 14 November and headed north in company with two net tenders to the anchorage at Kossol Roads . There , she spent 11 days assembling over two miles of net and supporting equipment . At the conclusion of that assignment , " Zebra " received orders to Pearl Harbor . She departed the Palaus on 25 November , stopped at Eniwetok briefly on 4 December , and arrived in Hawaii on 15 December . At Pearl Harbor , she underwent 20 days of repairs and modifications before loading net gear in preparation for her next mission . Iwo Jima , 1945 . She remained at Pearl Harbor through the end of January 1945 awaiting sailing orders . Finally , the ship got underway on 5 February , bound for Iwo Jima . She stopped at Eniwetok between 16 February and 21 February and then continued her voyage . Two days out of Eniwetok , " Zebra " ' s convoy received orders changing its destination from Iwo Jima to Saipan in the Marianas . " Zebra " , two net tenders , and a destroyer , however , received instructions to continue on to their original destination as a result of battle damage to her sister ship . The little task unit arrived off Iwo Jima on 28 February , and " Zebra " immediately began double duty , laying nets and serving as flagship for all minecraft in the vicinity . She stayed at Iwo Jima for 42 days , laying nets in spite of adverse weather , heavy seas , and fire from the doomed but stubborn enemy garrison . She also superintended the laying of ship moorings and performed several salvage jobs including pulling and off the Iwo Jima beach . California . " Zebra " concluded her tour of duty at Iwo Jima on 11 April and shaped a course back to Eniwetok , where she arrived on 18 April . Continuing east , the ship entered Pearl Harbor again on 28 April for a four - day layover before resuming her voyage to the West Coast . On 11 May , the net cargo ship arrived in San Francisco , California , to complete her conversion to a net cargo ship . She entered the Oakland yard of the Moore Dry Dock Company on 14 May . Work continued until mid - July when she received orders to participate in net laying experiments at Tiburon , California . Though speeded up , her conversion had not been completed when she slipped her moorings on 25 July to join the operations up the bay at Tiburon . That duty lasted until 3 August at which time the ship returned to Moore Drydock Co . to complete the remaining conversion work . On 26 August , she made her post - conversion , full power trial run and , soon thereafter , received orders assigning her to the Administrative Command , Minecraft , located at Pearl Harbor . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1946 . The ship stood out of San Francisco Bay on 31 August and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 8 September . She remained in Hawaii only 12 days . On 20 September , she headed back to the western Pacific to collect salvaged net equipment . Carrying a small cargo of mine gear for the Marshall Islands command , she steamed to Kwajalein where she arrived on 30 September and unloaded her cargo before proceeding on to Iwo Jima . " Zebra " arrived at the latter island on 9 October , loaded net gear , and then headed for the Marianas on 29 October . The ship made port at Saipan on 1 November , unloaded the salvaged net equipment at the Saipan stockpile , and began loading passengers and equipment for return to the United States . She departed Saipan on 15 November and stopped at Guam on 16 November . There , she unloaded some mine - sweeping gear before resuming the voyage on 29 November . Steaming by way of Pearl Harbor , " Zebra " arrived in the Canal Zone on 31 December 1945 . Routed on to Norfolk , Virginia , she reported to the Commandant , 5th Naval District , on 8 January 1946 . " Zebra " was decommissioned at Norfolk on 21 January 1946 and simultaneously returned to the War Shipping Administration . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 7 February 1946 . Awards . " Zebra " was awarded one battle star for service during World War II .