USS Jaguar (IX-120)-- Part 1: Launched By the California Shipbuilding Corporation

In my last post, I talked with a WW II veteran who served on this ship.  I;d never heard of the hip, so good ol' Wikipedia.

Was an Armadillo-class  tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous ship   She was the only ship in the U.S. Navy ever to have this name. The keel was laid down as the  Charles T. Yerkes under Maritime Commission contract by the California Shipbuilding Corporation in San Pedro, California.

She was launched  on 20 November 1943 and acquired by the Navy December 15 and commissioned that day with Lieutenant Commander T.E. Hammond in command.  It was 441 feet long with a 57-foot beam and a complement of 70 officers and enlisted.

After a shakedown cruise, it departed 19 January 1944  for duty as a floating storage ship in the Pacific Theater.

--GreGen