MS West Honaker - World War II

World War II

In June 1940, the United States Maritime Commission opened bidding for the reconditioning of ten laid up cargo ships, which included West Honaker. According to the Los Angeles Times, the, a successor to the, was forced to act because of a "critical shortage" of U.S. Navy auxiliary ships. The Maryland Drydock Company of Baltimore was the low bidder for West Honaker, offering to recondition her for $77,777.

On 3 November, with her reconditioning complete, West Honaker sailed from New York. After transiting the Panama Canal a week after her departure, she headed for Brisbane, Australia, where she arrived on 13 December. After then calling at Sydney, Melbourne, Port Pirie, and Adelaide through 8 January 1941, West Honaker called at Melbourne and Sydney before departing for the United States on 18 January. Loaded with a cargo of wool intended for uniforms, blankets, and overcoats for the military, West Honaker arrived at New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 3 March.

From late March to mid August, West Honaker made another, almost identical Australian circuit, adding a stop in Fremantle to her Australian itinerary. Almost immediately after her return to Boston, she began a third trip to Australia. After she arrived in Brisbane on 29 October, she made stops in Sydney and Melbourne. From Sydney she made a round trip to Nouméa, New Caledonia, and sailed from there to Wellington, New Zealand, where she arrived on 11 December, four days after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled the United States into World War II.

West Honaker departed Wellington on 13 December and arrived at Boston on 28 February 1942. From Boston, she sailed to New York via Philadelphia. After sailing from New York on 29 April, West Honaker experienced some unspecified trouble, and was towed into Baltimore on 4 June. After spending almost three weeks in that port, she headed for Cape Town via Trinidad. She departed Cape Town on 24 August and sailed to Bushire, Abadan, Bandar Abbas, and Colombo over the next three months. After making a round trip to Calcutta from late November to late December, West Honaker arrived at Wellington on 26 January, sailing for New York via the Panama Canal three days later.

West Honaker took on a load of grain and then proceeded in convoy from Boston to Halifax in early May, and on to Belfast Lough. After making a circuit to Avonmouth and Milford Haven, West Honaker sailed from Belfast Lough for New York on 25 June. She made one additional transatlantic roundtrip beginning in late August, carrying a cargo of explosives on her outbound trip, and returning in late October. West Honaker sailed 28 November from New York for Nuevitas, Cuba, and returned via Key West, Florida, in late December. Sailing again for the Caribbean on 6 February, she visited Guantánamo Bay and Antilla before her 28 February 1944 return to New York. At some point within the next month, West Honaker arrived at Boston.