USS Hamul ( AD - 20 ) USS " Hamul " ( AD - 20 ) was the lead ship of a class of two destroyer tender s ; she was most likely named after " Hamal " , the brightest star in the constellation Aries . Laid down on 6 March 1940 as SS " Sea Panther , a Maritime Commission type ( C3 Cargo ) hull under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 40 ) by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of Kearney , New Jersey . Launched in May 1940 she was delivered to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company of New Orleans and renamed Doctor Lykes " . After two trips to the Orient she was acquired by the United States Navy and commissioned as a cargo ship , USS " Hamul " ( AK - 30 ) , on 14 June 1941 at Charleston , South Carolina , Commander F . M . Tillson in command . Service history . Cargo ship , 1941 – 1942 . In July 1941 , " Hamul " rendered logistical support for the occupation of Iceland , prior to America ' s involvement in World War II . After working with General Electric in experiments on night camouflage , " Hamul " departed Boston in January , 1942 to head a convey of five ships with men and material to establish a base at Bora Bora , Society Islands . This mission completed , the cargo ship returned to the States via Chile , while she loaded 10 , 000 tons of nitrate . " Hamul " discharged the valuable cargo at Mobile , Alabama and remained there for conversion to a destroyer tender . Destroyer tender . 1943 – 1946 . Departing Mobile 7 January 1943 redesignated as AD - 20 , " Hamul " tended destroyer s and other ships in Casco Bay , Maine until April and then sailed south to serve as flagship of the Destroyer - Escort Shakedown Task Group in Bermuda . In the following 19 months she tended some 348 DD ' s as well as removing demolition charges from . This German submarine was the first capture of a regular enemy warship on the high seas by the U . S . Navy since 1815 . After overhaul at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , " Hamul " sailed for the Pacific 1 January 1945 reaching Saipan 12 February via the Panama Canal , Pearl Harbor , and Eniwetok . She remained there preparing amphibious craft for the massive Iwo Jima invasion until 27 March , when she sailed to Ulithi . At Ulithi " Hamul " kept busy repairing damaged craft returning from the Okinawa campaign until 6 May , when she sailed for the scene of the Pacific war ' s last major struggle . " Hamul " reached Okinawa on 10 May 1945 and remained there until February , 1946 to repair battle - damaged ships . With over 400 homeward bound veterans aboard , she departed Okinawa 10 February 1946 . After discharging them at San Diego she proceeded to Jacksonville , Florida and subsequently Orange , Texas to prepare for decommissioning . 1946 – 1962 . As " Hamul " entered the final stages of the decommissioning process , she was called back into active service as station ship at Plymouth , England . Reaching the British port on 17 April 1947 , " Hamul " remained there for three years tending various American ships and making quarterly cruises to Atlantic and Mediterranean ports . Again ordered to decommission , " Hamul " departed Plymouth on 17 July 1950 , but the outbreak of war in Korea again called for every available ship . Going west via Norfolk , " Hamul " reached Sasebo , Japan on 23 October and began servicing the fleet operating off the Korean coast . From that period on " Hamul " s career fell into a pattern of six months duty in the East , which took her to the Philippines , Hong Kong , Formosa , and other Asian ports and islands , alternating with a similar period of time in her home port , Long Beach . During the active fighting in Korea and the Cold War afterwards , she played a vital role in maintaining America ' s mobile presence in the Pacific . " Hamul " ( AD - 20 ) decommissioned on 9 June 1962 at Long Beach . Returned to the Maritime Administration , she was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay in Benicia , California . " Hamul " earned one battle star for World War II service and one battle star for Korean War service .