>Castor AKA-1
Castor
The more northern of the two bright stars in the constellation Gemini.
(AKS-1: dp. 5,500; 1. 435'; b. 63'; dr. 26'10"; s. 16 k.;
cpl. 315; a 1 5"; cl. Castor)
Castor (AKS-1) was launched as Challenge 20 May 1939 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. T. M. Woodward. acquired by the Navy 23 October 1940 and renamed Castor six days later; and commissioned 12 March 1941, Commander F. Johnson in command.
Clearing Norfolk 6 May 1941, Castor arrived at San Diego 20 May to begin a series of cargo voyages to Pearl Harbor. In October, she carried Marine reinforce meets to Johnston and Wake Islands. Returning to San Francisco to load explosives, Castor arrived in Pearl Harbor three days before the Japanese attack of 7 December 1941. Her guns were quickly brought into action, and while she was repeatedly strafed by enemy planes, she suffered little damage and no casualties in the attack.
Until 7 February 1942, Castor carried cargo from the west coast to aid in the buildup of Pearl Harbor as the nerve center for the Pacific, then aided in the opening of operations in the critical South Pacific area with cargo runs from San Francisco to bases in New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Fijis, and New Zealand. A cargo voyage to Funafuti and Espiritu Santo in November and December 1943 found her carrying essential supplies for the Gilbert Islands invasion. From January 1944, her voyages from the west coast were to bases in the Marshall Islands, and after a brief overhaul at Seattle, Castor reported at Manus 18 September for duty with famed TF 58. Operating primarily from Manus and Ulithi, she replenished the fast carrier task force at sea thus helping to expedite the smashing series of raids which pushed the Japanese ever westward. The final phase of these operations found the cargo ship acting in support of the assault on Okinawa, off which she operated through May and June 1945. Unscathed by the inferno which kamikaze attacks made of duty off Okinawa. Castor sailed for overhaul at San Francisco on 10 July.
Between December 1945 and February 1947 Castor supplied occupation forces in the Far East, calling at Guam, Saipan, Tsingtao, Hong Kong, and Japanese ports. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Francisco 30 June 1947.
With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, Caxtor was recommissioned 24 November 1950, and cleared San Francisco 11 March 1961 for training at Pearl Harbor. She arrived at Sasebo 14 May and from this base supplied ships in the harbors of Inchon and Pusan, Korea as well as replenishing ships of TF 77 at sea. Leaving Yokosuka astern 18 March 1962, Castor ran into a fierce storm which damaged her engines and left her dead in the water for 22 dangerous hours until she could be towed back to Japan for emergency repairs. She arrived at San Francisco 25 April for overhaul and permanent repairs.
On 9 September 1952, Castor returned to Yokosuka, now to be her home port. Since that date and through 1960 she has operated from Yokosuka and occasionally from Subic Bay, P.I., supporting the ever more important operations of 7th Fleet, as it carries out its assignment to keep the Taiwan Patrol Force at sea, and in September 1964 took part in the Vietnamese evacuation, Operation "Passage to Freedom," off Indo-China. An overhaul at San Francisco early in 1966 fitted her to carry both technical and general stores.
While bound for Subic Bay on 19 October 1956, Castor fought her way unscathed through a furious typhoon, and next day received a distress message from the Philippine merchantman Lepus. With the aid of search planes, Castor located and rescued 11 survivors of the stricken ship. This rescue won a citation and plaque for Castor from Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay.
Castor received three battle stars for World War II service and two for Korean War service.