USS Aries (AK-51)

USS Aries (AK-51)

The USS Aries (AK-51) (1918-1952) was a United States Navy cargo ship built as Lake Geneva under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract in 1918 at Duluth, Minnesota, by the McDougall Duluth Shipbuilding Company, to augment American logistics capability during World War I. The freighter was delivered to the Navy at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 21 September 1918 and was placed in commission the following day for service in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service with Lieutenant Commander Francis A. Brannen, USNRF, in command. Aries was named for the constellation.

After fitting out, the freighter sailed for France late in October and arrived at St. Nazaire on 11 November, the day Germany signed the armistice ending the fighting of World War I. Lake Geneva was then assigned to European waters. Based at Cardiff, Wales, she carried coal from that port and from Belfast, Ireland, to French ports.

After continuing this duty through the spring of 1919, she sailed for Charleston, South Carolina, carrying some 1,500 tons of Army ordnance material. However, while en route to that port, she was diverted to Newport News, Virginia, where she arrived on 12 July.