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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Procyon (AKA-2)
ex
 USS Procyon (AK-19) (1941 - 1943)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Juliet - Whiskey
 NBJW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal (bronze star in lieu of Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (4)
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Arcturus Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 15 January 1940, as SS Sweepstakes, a Maritime Commission type (C2F) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 25) at Tampa Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. Tampa, FL.
  • Acquired by the Navy and Launched, 14 November 1940
  • Commissioned USS Procyon (AK-19), 8 August 1941, CDR. Lem P. Padgett, Jr. USN, in command
  • During World War II USS Procyon served in both the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater, and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    North African occupation
    Algeria-Morocco landings, 8 to 11 November 1942     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 7 April 1945
    Sicilian occupation, 9 to 15 July 1943  
    Salerno landings, 9 to 21 September 1943  
    Invasion of Southern France
    Golfe de St. Tropez landing, 15 August to 25 September 1944     		 

  • While assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater USS Procyon came under the command of:
    TransRon Eighteen COMO. J.G. Moyer USN (14);
    TransDiv Fifty-Four, CAPT. J.R. Lannom USN (19)
  • Converted to an Attack Cargo Ship at Norfolk, VA.
  • Redesignated (AKA-2), 1 February 1943
  • Following World War II USS Procyon was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 13 October to 1 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 23 March 1946, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946
  • USS Procyon earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 30 June 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 18 October 1973, to Levin Metals Corp., Oakland, CA., (PD-X-964 dated 5 September 1973) for $126,000.00, delivered, 19 November 1973
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,480 t. (lt) 14,225 t. (fl.)
    Length 459' 3"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 5"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers38
    Enlisted 374
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 4,465 DWT
    non-refrigerated 319,785 Cu. Ft.
    refrigerated 36,300 Cu. Ft.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 8,950 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Nordberg Diesel engine
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three Diesel-drive Ships's Service Generator, 300Kw, 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Procyon (AK-19)
    Procyon
    100200208    		 46k
    Namesake
    Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky    		 Tommy Trampp
    Procyon 87k Stern view of USS Procyon (AK-19) off Mare Island Navy Yard, 7 November 1941.
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo # 2972-11-41, 11/7/41.    		 Darryl Baker
    Procyon 80k Aft starboard quarter view of USS Procyon (AK-19) departing Mare Island, 11 August 1942. Procyon was under repair at Mare Island from 4 July to 11 August 1942. Note, Procyon was built with standard merchant ship kingpost pairs and did not receive the centerline kingposts that were added to her later sisters.
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo # 4763-8-42, 8/11/42.    		 Darryl Baker
    USS Procyon (AKA-2)
    Procyon 82k USS Procyon (AKA-2) probably in Hampton Roads, 10 May 1943. Note the addition of a large radar mast forward of the stack, as well as elevated 20mm gun platforms near the tubs for her four 3-inch guns at each end. She appears to be carrying most of her boats. Unlike her later sisters, she has no landing craft davits outboard of the bridge.
    US National Archives RG-19-LCM, photo No. BuAer 66345.
    US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics photo and text from "US Amphibious Ships and Craft", by Norman Friedman.    		 Robert Hurst
    Procyon 90k USS Procyon (AKA-2), circa 1943, when she was carrying up to seven LCM(3)s stowed athwartship (there was space for another alongside of the boat aft), at least five of them with LCVPs nested inside, plus a pair of LCVPs stowed fore-and-aft between her superstructure and her after kingposts, and davits (for LCVPs) on her deckhouse. All boats were handled by booms, the kingposts having been reinforced to support 30-ton booms to handle LCMs.
    US Navy photo from "US Amphibious Ships and Craft", by Norman Friedman.    		 Robert Hurst
    Procyon 56k Overhead view of USS Procyon (AKA-2) at anchor, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    Procyon 30k USS Procyon (AKA-2) at anchor, 10 May 1943, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Lou Sander
    Procyon 77k USS Procyon (AKA-2) in San Francisco Bay in late 1945 or early 1946. The ship was refitted in circa 1944 with two quadrupod masts, and her armament was modified again, the four 3-inch guns being replaced by two 40mm twins and the 20mm guns being redistributed. Procyon was the only ship of the class so configured.
    US Navy photo # 80-G-48207 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Procyon (AK-19 / AKA-2)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Padgett Jr., Lemuel Phillips USN :RADM8 August 1941 - 4 January 1943AK-19
    02CDR. Hartt, Beverly Armistead USN4 January 1943 - 23 February 1944AK-19
    03CAPT. Cullins Jr., Thomas Oliver USN23 February 1944 - 6 February 1945AKA-2
    04CDR. Minckler, Campbell Harris USN6 February 1945 - ?AKA-2
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    USS Procyon (AK-19) War Diary 1 April 1942 to 31 January 1943
    USS Procyon (AKA-2) War Diary 1 February 1943 to 31 December 1945
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 16 October 2020