| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Alcyone |
| Namesake: | Alcyone |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 12 January 1939, as SS Mormacgull |
| Launched: | 28 August 1939 |
| Acquired: | by purchase, 31 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 15 June 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 23 July 1946 |
| Renamed: | USS Alcyone (AK-24), 3 June 1941 |
| Reclassified: | AKA-7 (attack cargo ship), 26 November 1942 |
| Struck: | 15 August 1946 |
| Honours and awards: |
8 battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate: | Sold into merchant service, 17 March 1947 Scrapped, 1969 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Arcturus-class attack cargo ship |
| Type: | Type C2 ship |
| Displacement: | 14,225 long tons (14,453 t) full |
| Length: | 459 ft 1 in (139.93 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m) |
| Speed: | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement: | 399 |
| Armament: | • 1 × 5"/38 caliber gun mount • 4 × 3 in (76 mm) gun mounts |
USS Alcyone (AKA-7) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship named after Alcyone, the brightest star in the star cluster Pleiades. She served as a commissioned ship for 5 years and 1 month.
The ship was laid down as Mormacgull under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 30) on 12 January 1939 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Hull 179; launched on 28 August 1939; sponsored by Miss Barbara Ann Moore; delivered 13 October 1939 to owner/operator Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc.; purchased by the Navy on 31 May 1941; renamed Alcyone and designated AK-24 on 3 June 1941; converted for naval service by the Boston Navy Yard; and placed in commission on 15 June 1941, Comdr. Daniel M. McGurl in command.