USS Alcor (AD-34) was a destroyer tender

Destroyer tender

A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...

, the lone ship in her class, named for a star (also known as the 80 Ursae Majoris

Mizar (star)

The Mizar–Alcor stellar sextuple system consists of the quadruple system Mizar and the binary system Alcor.- Description :Mizar is a quadruple system of two binary stars in the constellation Ursa Major and is the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. Its apparent magnitude is 2.23...

) in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Ursa Major

Ursa Major

Ursa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...

.

Originally built in 1928 as SS Dixie

Dixie

Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States.- Origin of the name :According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles , by Mitford M...

 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Kearny, New Jersey

Kearny, New Jersey

Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....

, she was formally acquired by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 on 3 March 1941 from the Southern Pacific Steamship lines (Morgan Line) and converted for naval service at the Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...

 Key Highway Plant in Baltimore, Maryland. The vessel was commissioned as USS Alcor (AG-34) on 4 September 1941 with Commander Edward A. Mitchell in command. T

Service history

The ship got underway on 7 December to sail to Casco Bay, Maine. After completing shakedown training, she shaped a course for Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 and, upon reaching that port on 19 December, became the flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of Commander, Train, Atlantic Fleet. Re-classified a repair ship and redesignated AR-10 on 22 December 1941 Alcor began a tour of duty at Norfolk (repairing damage and making alterations to warships) that lasted for more than 30 months.

Her protracted sojourn at Norfolk came to an end on 4 July 1944 when the repair ship got underway for the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 coast. She reached Casco Bay on 14 July and became the flagship of Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet. She remained in Casco Bay for the next five months making repairs for various ships of the fleet. While carrying out this assignment, her designation was changed to AD-34 on 6 November 1944. In early January, 1945 the destroyer tender left the east coast, bound for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and joined the Pacific Fleet on 16 January. Alcor continued on to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 and arrived at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 3 February. She provided tender services there until 4 June, when she sailed for the Philippine Islands. While en route, the vessel was diverted to Eniwetok. After a four-day layover for a special construction project, the tender resumed her original course and arrived at Leyte

Leyte

Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

 on 26 June. There, she reported to Service Squadron 10 for duty and began repair work for various ships. During Alcor's service in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Japan capitulated on 15 August 1945.

Alcor left Philippine waters on 14 September and headed for Okinawa. She reached Buckner Bay on the 18th and resumed her tender duties. She sailed for Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on 28 February 1946. Her first stop was at Sasebo

Sasebo, Nagasaki

is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...

, where she carried out repair work through late March. Alcor then moved her operations to Yokosuka. The tender finished her tour there on 8 May, then shaped a course for the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. After a pause en route at Pearl Harbor, the ship reached San Diego on 3 June. She sailed back through the Panama Canal and reached Norfolk on 22 June. Preparations were begun for her deactivation, and Alcor was decommissioned on 5 August 1946. The vessel was sold on 6 August 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 28 August 1946; she was later scrapped in 1950.