USS Sangay ( AE - 10 ) The USS Sangay ( AE - 10 ) was a ship of the United States Navy which saw service during World War II in the Pacific Ocean . As a munitions carrier , the Sangay was named after the Sangay volcano in Ecuador , a tongue - in - cheek reference to what would happen if a munitions ship was hit by enemy fire . The ship shuttled ammunition initially between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , then moved to the forward area in the Pacific theatre to supply combatants . The Sangay served during the entirety of the war and was retired shortly after the end of hostilities . Construction and commissioning . USS " Sangay " ( AE - 10 ) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 225 ) as SS " Cape Sable " on 30 October 1941 by Pennsylvania Shipyards , Inc . , Beaumont , Tex . ; launched on 5 April 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . A . Robert Lee ; delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 9 September 1942 ; acquired by the Navy on 25 November 1942 ; and commissioned on 25 March 1943 , Comdr . W . D . Ryan in command . Service during World War II . Shuttle to Pearl Harbor . " Sangay " sailed from Yorktown , Va . , on 13 May 1943 with a cargo of mines for San Diego . On 30 May , she began the first of four round trips between the west coast and Hawaii , carrying ammunition to Pearl Harbor and returning to San Francisco with defective ammunition and empty shell cases . This duty was completed on 2 October . On 16 November , the ship left San Francisco for the first of five voyages to supply the fleet with ammunition in forward areas . Forward area service . " Sangay ' s " first stop was at Funafuti from 29 November 1943 to 11 January 1944 where , in addition to issuing ammunition to cruisers and destroyers , her crew cleared obstructions in the Te Bua Bua Channel and directed minesweeping operations in the harbor . After resupplying at Pearl Harbor , the ammunition ship moved to the Marshall Islands and issued bombs and fuses to the carriers of Task Force 58 at Majuro from 6 to 9 February , and then transferred the rest of her cargo to barges at Roi between 10 and 14 February and to USS " Rainier " ( AE - 5 ) at Majuro from 17 to 22 February . She then picked up a fresh cargo of ammunition at San Francisco and issued it to fleet units at Efate on 15 April , Seeadler Harbor from 24 April to 8 May , at Cape Cretin , New Guinea , from 10 to 13 May , at Efate between 18 and 21 May , and at Espiritu Santo from 22 to 31 May , before arriving at Eniwetok on 9 June for three weeks . She transferred her remaining ammunition to USS " Shasta " ( AE - 6 ) on 2 June and sailed to San Francisco where , at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 9 August 1944 , 328 African - American enlisted sailors refused to load munitions ; a work - stoppage that was to be called the Port Chicago mutiny . Civilian longshoremen were instead brought in to load " Sangay " . " Sangay ' s " next assignment was to support the landings on Peleliu in the Palau Islands . Between 15 and 21 September , she lay off the beach during the day issuing ammunition to American warships and retired seaward with the transports at night . She then issued ammunition in Kossol Passage between 22 and 26 September and at Seeadler Harbor between 1 and 10 October before joining USS " Mauna Loa " ( AE - 8 ) and sailing to San Francisco . Returning to the forward areas , she issued ammunition and bombs to units of Task Force 38 at Ulithi from 20 December 1944 to 11 January 1945 , and then supplied ammunition depots at Eniwetok between 17 and 23 January and at Kwajalein between 24 and 27 January before returning to San Francisco on 10 February . " Sangay " left San Francisco on 22 March with a cargo of mines and mine components , arriving after several stops at Eniwetok on 27 June . She remained there until ordered back to Pearl Harbor on 12 August to be fitted as a tender for small minecraft , and sailed from there on 26 September with general cargo loaded for fleet issue . After ten days at Okinawa , from 11 to 20 October , she arrived at Sasebo on 22 October where she provided support to minesweepers clearing Japanese minefields . She remained there , except for a nine - day visit to Wakayama Wan , until sailing for home via Okinawa on 17 January 1946 . The ammunition ship arrived at Orange , Tex . , on 30 April 1946 where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 20 July 1947 . She was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1960 , having been transferred the previous day to the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Beaumont , Tex . , where she remains through June 1974 . Awards and commendations . " Sangay " received two battle star s for her World War II service .