USS Naos ( AK - 105 ) USS " Naos " ( AK - 105 ) was laid down as SS " William R . Nelson " under Maritime Commission contract by California Shipbuilding Corp . , Los Angeles , California , 8 June 1943 , named after Naos , the star in constellation Puppis . " Naos " was launched 30 June 1943 and sponsored by Miss Barbara Quarg . The ship was delivered to the Navy under bareboat charter 15 July 1943 , converted for Navy use by Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp . , San Pedro , California , and commissioned at San Pedro 17 August 1943 , Lieutenant Commander N . E . Wilcox in command . Service history . 1943 – 1944 . Departing San Pedro on 25 August , " Naos " loaded cargo at San Francisco and made a round trip run to Pearl Harbor and back between 28 August and 25 October . During the next month she was converted for use as a combination troop transport and cargo ship by General Engineering and Drydock Co . , San Francisco . She cleared the Golden Gate 10 December , embarked 1 , 080 troops at Port Hueneme , and sailed for the South Pacific in convoy the 12th . " Naos " reached Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides , 3 January 1944 and discharged her troops and supplies . A week later she sailed for Fiji and thus began shuttle duty throughout much of the South Pacific . Troop and cargo runs during the next eight months sent her to numerous American bases scattered from Samoa and the Ellice Islands to New Caledonia and the Solomons . While carrying more than 1 , 000 troops from Tulagi to New Zealand in mid - March , she was pounded by a severe tropical storm which left her relatively undamaged but damaged her escort , PC – 588 . " Naos " provided emergency aid before sending the battered escort to New Caledonia . Maintaining her busy pace of operations , " Naos " departed Guadalcanal for the Admiralties . She operated out of Manus between 30 September and 25 October , thence sailed the next day to carry troop reinforcements and supplies to the Palaus . She reached Kossol Passage 31 October , and for more than a month she operated in coastal waters off the northern Palaus . During yet another tropical storm 8 November , " Naos " sent a volunteer crew to rescue 26 men from SC – 633 which was thrown upon a reef by heavy seas . Early in December she embarked 1 , 114 troops and loaded Army tanks at Anguar and Peleliu before departing in convoy 8 December . Steaming via the Russell Islands , she returned to Noumea 22 December . Four days later she resumed shuttle runs which continued throughout the South Pacific for the next five months . 1945 – 1946 . After embarking Seabee units at Nouméa , " Naos " sailed for Okinawa 15 May 1945 . She touched at bases in the Solomons , the Marshalls , and the Western Carolines and finally arrived off Hagushi Beach , Okinawa , 11 July . She completed discharge and reload operations later that month , and on the 29th she joined a 65 - ship convoy bound for the Marianas . Sailing via Saipan , she reached Pearl Harbor 22 August . Following the Japanese surrender , " Naos " returned to the western Pacific carrying repatriated prisoners - of - war and military cargo . She arrived Okinawa 2 October ; and , after steaming to avoid Typhoon Louise a week later , she embarked 1 , 040 troops for return to the United States . She sailed 14 October and arrived San Francisco 5 November . " Naos " decommissioned there 6 December 1945 and was returned to WSA the same day . Her name was struck from the Navy List 3 January 1946 . She remained in custody of the Maritime Administration under the name " William R . Nelson " until sold for scrap in 1962 .