USS Yukon ( AF - 9 ) USS " Yukon " ( AF - 9 ) was an " Arctic " - class store ship acquired by the United States Navy during World War II . " Yukon " served as a stores ship , responsible for delivering supplies to military personnel in combat and non - combat areas . She served her remarkable career in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean theaters of operation . The first Navy ship to be so - named , " Yukon " was a steamer constructed in 1920 as SS " Mehanno " by the Moore Shipbuilding Company at Oakland , California , for the United States Shipping Board and was acquired by the Navy on 14 November 1921 . She was renamed " Yukon " ; converted to a stores ship ; designated AF - 9 ; and commissioned on 6 December 1921 , Commander Leo Sahm in command . Inter - war service . " Yukon " served briefly as a unit of the Train , Pacific Fleet ; however , on 14 April 1922 , she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . She remained there until late 1939 , when she was moved to New York for a partial conversion and preparations for her return to active service . " Yukon " was recommissioned at Brooklyn , New York on 19 January 1940 , Cdr . Mays L . Lewis in command . World War II . North Atlantic operations . Following shakedown , " Yukon " was assigned to the Service Force Atlantic Fleet . During the first two years of her resumed service , the ship made 13 round - trip voyages between the United States and the West Indies . In December 1941 , however , her zone of operations was changed to the North Atlantic , and she made a voyage to Reykjavík , Iceland . While returning to the United States from Iceland on 23 January 1942 , " Yukon " suffered partial disability when her main air compressor went out . Two days later , came to her aid and took the ship in tow for Reykjavík . On the 29th , " Hamilton " turned her charge over to the British tug and took up escort station . Attacked by a torpedo from a U - boat . About an hour later , a torpedo struck the Coast Guard cutter , and " Yukon " went to general quarters . About 30 minutes after that , the enemy submarine attacked " Yukon " ; but her torpedo missed its mark , passing some astern . The cutter remained afloat for about a day before being sunk by American gunfire . " Yukon " arrived safely at Reykjavík where she completed repairs before heading back to the United States . The ship resumed her voyages between the United States and American bases in the Atlantic , visiting such diverse places as Bermuda , Nova Scotia , Iceland , Trinidad , and Newfoundland . Collision on the high seas . On 23 July 1943 , while steaming in convoy a few hours out of Sydney , Nova Scotia , struck " Yukon " , damaging her portside considerably . Nevertheless , the stores ship succeeded in keeping up with the convoy and safely made Argentia , Newfoundland . She made temporary repairs at Argentia , returned to the United States at Boston , Massachusetts on 5 August , and began permanent repairs . Supporting Mediterranean operations . " Yukon " returned to active service in the fall of 1943 . Between that time and the summer of 1944 , she made four voyages , all to either Bermuda or the West Indies . In July , her itinerary changed . She departed New York on the 11th and anchored in Hampton Roads the following evening . On the morning of 14 July , she passed between Capes Charles and Henry with a 120 - ship convoy , UGS 48 , bound for the Mediterranean Sea . Upon entering the Mediterranean , " Yukon " and two men - of - war , a destroyer and a destroyer escort , parted company with the convoy and set course for Oran , Algeria . She arrived in the North Africa n port on 30 July , discharged some fresh provisions , and took on some cargo bound for Naples , Italy . The following day , the stores ship stood out of Oran and headed for the Italian peninsula . She arrived in Naples on 3 August but the following morning received orders to move immediately to Castellamare Bay to provision the fleet preparing for the invasion of southern France . " Yukon " left the Naples , Italy , area on 5 August and set a course via Palermo on the southern coast of Sicily for Bizerte in Tunisia . The ship entered the North African port on 8 August and , the following day , sailed with a westbound convoy , GUS - 48 . On 28 August , after crossing half the Mediterranean and the entire Atlantic , she entered port at Boston , Massachusetts . Navigating the North Atlantic seas . After upkeep at Boston , she put to sea on 5 September to carry supplies to an Army base located at Ikateg Fjord , Greenland . Steaming via Argentia in Newfoundland and Angmagssalik on the eastern coast of Greenland , she made one false start and then , on her second attempt , successfully navigated Angmagssalik , Ikerrasak , and Ikateg fjords to arrive at the Army airstrip . She began unloading her cargo , an operation made doubly hazardous by large quantities of floating ice . In spite of the danger , " Yukon " s crew completed the unloading successfully , allowing the ship to leave before the imminent closing of the fjord by ice . She continued her voyage east , bound for Reykjavík , Iceland . Under attack by German torpedoes . On the afternoon of 22 September , she steamed into the swept channel in the approaches to Reykjavík in company with destroyer . At about 15 : 51 , she recorded an underwater shock of undetermined origin and reported it to her escort . As " Babbitt " began searching the area , " Yukon " registered another underwater shock of lesser intensity and went to general quarters . Two minutes later at 15 : 52 , lookouts observed a torpedo pass astern of the ship and explode about to her portside . The stores ship began making emergency turns to evade the enemy torpedoes ; but , at 15 : 57 , one struck her on the starboard side about from the stem . The ship made an emergency turn to starboard and rang up full speed , just in case circumstances forced her to beach . Down by the bow , " Yukon " transferred fuel oil aft and pumped about more overboard to correct the problem . Far more serious , her entire bow was blown open from the stem aft to some , the outer shell of her double bottom was ruptured to port and starboard , and a dangerous crack appeared across the vessel amidships . Such was her condition when she began limping back to Reykjavík that many on board doubted her ability to make it the short distance into the Icelandic port . At 18 : 08 , after about two hours steaming at barely three knots , " Yukon " met two tugs sent out from Reykjavík in response to her SOS . She took on board the pilot she had requested and , with the aid of the tugs , moved into the port . Circumstances , however , forced her to ground on the soft mud inshore until the following day when the ship moved into her designated berth . Repairing torpedo damage . " Yukon " completed temporary repairs at Reykjavík and then got underway in company with destroyer escort and tug . After nine days at sea , " Yukon " put into Argentia , Newfoundland to weather a severe storm . The storm passed , and the ship resumed her voyage to Norfolk , Virginia , where she arrived on 5 December . She immediately entered the Norfolk Navy Yard and began permanent repairs . She returned to sea in mid - February 1945 and voyaged to New York where she loaded cargo for the West Indies . She stood out of New York on 18 February , steamed by way of Bermuda to San Juan , Puerto Rico , and returned to Norfolk on 7 March . Transfer to the Pacific Fleet . Eight days later , the ship passed between Cape Charles and Cape Henry out into the Atlantic on her way to the Pacific . She transited the Panama Canal and continued on to Pearl Harbor . From there , she resumed her voyage west and on 5 May entered the lagoon at Ulithi . Following a 12 - day layover , during which she unloaded her cargo , " Yukon " departed Ulithi on the 17th and set a course for the southwestern Pacific . She made an overnight stop at Manus on the 21st and 22d and arrived in Auckland , New Zealand on 4 June . On the 12th , " Yukon " stood out of Auckland and laid a course for Hawaii , arriving in Pearl Harbor on the 28th . End - of - war activity . The store ship unloaded her cargo at Pearl , took on a partial one bound for the South Pacific , and got underway again on 8 July . After stops at Espiritu Santo and Noumea , the ship arrived back in Auckland , New Zealand , at the end of the month . " Yukon " departed Auckland on 11 August ; and , while the ship steamed toward Hawaii , Japan capitulated . She arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 27th and , after a three - week layover in Hawaii , headed back to the southwestern Pacific , where she made a stop each at Manus and at Samar . Departing Samar on 4 November , she steamed back to Pearl Harbor where she stopped for over a month before continuing on to the Panama Canal . She transited the canal sometime between 21 and 24 January 1946 and departed the Panama Canal Zone on the latter day . " Yukon " arrived in Norfolk on the last day of January and began preparations for inactivation . Decommissioning . She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 18 March 1946 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 April , and she was turned over to the Maritime Commission for custody pending disposal on 1 July . On 29 July , she was sold to the Boston Metals Co . of Baltimore , Maryland for scrapping .