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USS Asterion (AK-100)
Encyclopedia
USS Asterion (AK-100, AK-63, WAK-123) was a Q-ship
of the United States Navy
named for Asterion
, a star
in the constellation
Canes Venatici
.
and Dry Dock Company, launched on 9 May 1912; and delivered to the A.H. Bull Steamship Line on 11 June 1912.
For the next 30 years, Evelyn operated between ports on the eastern seaboard of the United States
and the West Indies, carrying passengers and freight. During World War I
, she was inspected in the 3d Naval District on 9 January 1918, for possible naval service and was assigned the identification number Id. No. 2228. However, she was not actually taken over. Remaining a merchantman, she received a Navy armed guard detachment who protected her between
31 January and 11 November 1918.
. In a dispatch dated 31 January, 1942, the Chief of Naval Operations
ordered that Evelyn and Carolyn "be given a preliminary conversion to AK (cargo ship) in the shortest possible time." A 12 February letter from the Chief of the Bureau of Ships made it known that the conversion and outfitting of the vessels was desired "by 1 March 1942."
Acquired by the navy from the Bull Line early in 1942, Evelyn was renamed Asterion and classified as the cargo ship AK-100. That designation, however, was strictly a cover, for Asterion, like her sister ship Atik (AK-101) (the former SS Carolyn) was in fact a Q-ship
. While this ruse de guerre had worked moderately well in World War I
, it was at best a stop-gap measure adopted in the hope of ending a rash of sinkings of merchantmen in American coastal waters. Given a main battery, machine guns and depth charge
gear hidden in concealed positions, Asterion was placed in commission at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard in early March 1942, Lieutenant Commander Glen W. Legwen, Jr., in command. While on patrol, she would answer friendly requests for identification as the SS Evelyn, but if enemy ships should challenge, she would reply as SS Generalife of Spanish Registry
, callsign EAOQ.
After brief sea trials, Asterion sailed for her assigned patrol area on 23 March 1942, in company of Atik. Each ship was to proceed independently under the guise of a tramp steamer, in the hope of luring a U-boat
to the surface and destroying the submarine with gunfire before she realized what was happening. Once out at sea, the two vessels parted company.
One day out, Asterion picked up a submarine
contact on her underwater detection gear. Two days later, however, her radios picked up ominous traffic. Atik had been torpedo
ed. Then, after luring her assailant, U-123, to the surface with her "tramp" steamer guise, Atik had fired on the U-boat, but succeeded only in mortally wounding an officer on the submarine's bridge before the German captain broke off the action and cleared the area to await nightfall and a second crack at the Q-ship. U-123 delivered the coup de grace that evening, and Atik exploded and sank. Asterion plodded immediately to the assistance of Atik, but, when she arrived on the scene, found only wreckage. Not a man in Atiks crew had survived. Astarion arrived at Norfolk, Virginia
, on 31 March 1942.
She set out for her second cruise on 4 April, and that afternoon, witnessed the torpedoing of the tanker SS Comol Rio by U-154. A destroyer
arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and took up the search after Asterion had picked up a sound contact.
Various contacts with friendly surface craft and aircraft on this patrol and the previous one led to awkward situations which required tact and ingenuity on the part of the commanding officer to preserve the Q-ship's cover story. That cover story was maintained; officers in Headquarters, Eastern Sea Frontier, were so completely unaware of the nature of this ship's mission that they recorded her various dispatches in the Enemy Action Diary for 4 April, 10 April, and 14 April under her commercial name, SS Evelyn.
Operating off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on 14 April, Asterion rescued the 55 men of the crew of a British merchantman that had been torpedoed earlier—saving even the captain's dog. She entered New York harbor on 18 April and there disembarked the sailors she had rescued, cautioning them not to tell anyone of what they had seen on board the Q-ship.
Asterion's third cruise commenced on 4 May 1942, from New York, and she sailed between Key West and Norfolk, proceeding as an independently routed merchantman or as a straggler from a convoy. The fourth cruise commenced on 7 June 1942, and, due to increased submarine activity in the Gulf of Mexico
, the Q-ship set course for those dangerous waters. Clearing New York, she sailed down the eastern seaboard, transited the Straits of Florida
on 11 June, passed the Dry Tortugas
on 14 June; and thence steamed to the Yucatan Channel
. Reversing course, she moved to the Mississippi River
Delta whence she continued on a westerly course toward Galveston, Texas
. She then returned to New York on 6 July.
Departing New York a fortnight later, Asterion went directly to Key West and then sailed north of the Bahamas to the Windward Passage
. Returning to New York on 18 August, Asterion sailed at the end of the month for her sixth cruise, which took her through the waters that she had
traversed on the fifth patrol. On 25 September 1942, she was redesignated AK-63. Commencing her seventh cruise on 18 November, the ship proceeded to Key West and, while there, carried out training exercises on 30 November with a friendly submarine.
On 2 December 1942, Asterion got underway for the British West Indies
and, going via the Old Bahama Channel
, followed the convoy route to Trinidad and Tobago
, patrolling to the westward of Aruba
, in the Dutch West Indies. Departing Trinidad on the day after Christmas
the ship headed home and arrived at New York on 10 January 1943.
Over the next few months, Asterion underwent an extensive overhaul, involving the strengthening of her whole structure and modification of her armament. Inspection after her sixth cruise raised considerable doubt as to her ability to remain afloat if hit by even a single torpedo because she had three large holds. A representative of the New York Navy Yard conferred with the Bureau of Ships, Damage Section, who confirmed the opinion that she could not successfully withstand a torpedo hit, and that such a hit would result not only in her eventual sinking but also in such a quick list that her battery would be ineffective. (This weakness almost certainly was responsible for the rapid sinking of Atik.) A conference held in the office of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations decided to increase flotation by building five transverse bulkheads. It was estimated that this would take three months and that it would cost about US $200,000. The work took much longer and cost much more than estimated. Not until 27 September was the overhaul completed—more than eight months after the end of Asterion's latest cruise. The overhaul included re-subdivision by longitudinal and athwart ship bulkheads, the filling of her holds with 16,772 empty steel flotation drums. The Supervising Constructor estimated that the vessel could be completely flooded and 25% of the barrels completely crushed before her well decks would be awash. Thus it seemed probable that she had an excellent chance of remaining afloat if a U-boat made a successful attack on her.
Asterion then steamed to New London, Connecticut
, and beginning on 4 September, operated with American submarines in training. After returning briefly to New York, from 18 September to 20 September, she resumed her training at New London before proceeding back to New York for post-shakedown availability.
.
Turned over to that service and commissioned by it at Boston on 12 January 1944, Asterion (given the designation WAK-123) was converted for service as a weather ship. Ten days later, on 22 January 1944, her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
. Based at Boston, Asterion served as a weather patrol ship on Atlantic stations 3 and 4.
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
of 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...
named for Asterion
Asterion
In Greek mythology, Asterion denotes two sacred kings of Crete. The first Asterion or Asterius , the son of Tectamus or son of Neleus and Chloris by the Greeks called "king" of Crete, was the consort of Europa and stepfather of her sons by Zeus, who had to assume the form of the Cretan bull of...
, a star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
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....
Canes Venatici
Canes Venatici
Canes Venatici is one of the 88 official modern constellations. It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is Latin for "hunting dogs", and the constellation is often depicted in illustrations as representing the dogs of Boötes the...
.
Civilian merchant ship
Evelyn, a steel-hulled, single-screw steamer, was laid down on 17 January 1912, by the Newport News ShipbuildingNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
and Dry Dock Company, launched on 9 May 1912; and delivered to the A.H. Bull Steamship Line on 11 June 1912.
For the next 30 years, Evelyn operated between ports on the eastern seaboard of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the West Indies, carrying passengers and freight. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she was inspected in the 3d Naval District on 9 January 1918, for possible naval service and was assigned the identification number Id. No. 2228. However, she was not actually taken over. Remaining a merchantman, she received a Navy armed guard detachment who protected her between
31 January and 11 November 1918.
Q-ship
Evelyn pursued her prosaic calling under the house flag of the Bull Line through the Japanese attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. In a dispatch dated 31 January, 1942, the Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
ordered that Evelyn and Carolyn "be given a preliminary conversion to AK (cargo ship) in the shortest possible time." A 12 February letter from the Chief of the Bureau of Ships made it known that the conversion and outfitting of the vessels was desired "by 1 March 1942."
Acquired by the navy from the Bull Line early in 1942, Evelyn was renamed Asterion and classified as the cargo ship AK-100. That designation, however, was strictly a cover, for Asterion, like her sister ship Atik (AK-101) (the former SS Carolyn) was in fact a Q-ship
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
. While this ruse de guerre had worked moderately well in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, it was at best a stop-gap measure adopted in the hope of ending a rash of sinkings of merchantmen in American coastal waters. Given a main battery, machine guns and depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
gear hidden in concealed positions, Asterion was placed in commission at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard in early March 1942, Lieutenant Commander Glen W. Legwen, Jr., in command. While on patrol, she would answer friendly requests for identification as the SS Evelyn, but if enemy ships should challenge, she would reply as SS Generalife of Spanish Registry
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, callsign EAOQ.
After brief sea trials, Asterion sailed for her assigned patrol area on 23 March 1942, in company of Atik. Each ship was to proceed independently under the guise of a tramp steamer, in the hope of luring a U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
to the surface and destroying the submarine with gunfire before she realized what was happening. Once out at sea, the two vessels parted company.
One day out, Asterion picked up a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
contact on her underwater detection gear. Two days later, however, her radios picked up ominous traffic. Atik had been torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed. Then, after luring her assailant, U-123, to the surface with her "tramp" steamer guise, Atik had fired on the U-boat, but succeeded only in mortally wounding an officer on the submarine's bridge before the German captain broke off the action and cleared the area to await nightfall and a second crack at the Q-ship. U-123 delivered the coup de grace that evening, and Atik exploded and sank. Asterion plodded immediately to the assistance of Atik, but, when she arrived on the scene, found only wreckage. Not a man in Atiks crew had survived. Astarion arrived at 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....
, on 31 March 1942.
She set out for her second cruise on 4 April, and that afternoon, witnessed the torpedoing of the tanker SS Comol Rio by U-154. A destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and took up the search after Asterion had picked up a sound contact.
Various contacts with friendly surface craft and aircraft on this patrol and the previous one led to awkward situations which required tact and ingenuity on the part of the commanding officer to preserve the Q-ship's cover story. That cover story was maintained; officers in Headquarters, Eastern Sea Frontier, were so completely unaware of the nature of this ship's mission that they recorded her various dispatches in the Enemy Action Diary for 4 April, 10 April, and 14 April under her commercial name, SS Evelyn.
Operating off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on 14 April, Asterion rescued the 55 men of the crew of a British merchantman that had been torpedoed earlier—saving even the captain's dog. She entered New York harbor on 18 April and there disembarked the sailors she had rescued, cautioning them not to tell anyone of what they had seen on board the Q-ship.
Asterion's third cruise commenced on 4 May 1942, from New York, and she sailed between Key West and Norfolk, proceeding as an independently routed merchantman or as a straggler from a convoy. The fourth cruise commenced on 7 June 1942, and, due to increased submarine activity in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, the Q-ship set course for those dangerous waters. Clearing New York, she sailed down the eastern seaboard, transited the Straits of Florida
Straits of Florida
The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys and Cuba. The strait carries the Florida Current, the beginning of...
on 11 June, passed the Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, USA, about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the...
on 14 June; and thence steamed to the Yucatan Channel
Yucatán Channel
The Yucatán Channel is a strait between Mexico and Cuba. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. The strait is across between Cape Catoche in Mexico and Cape San Antonio, Cuba and reaches a maximum depth of .-References:...
. Reversing course, she moved to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
Delta whence she continued on a westerly course toward Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. She then returned to New York on 6 July.
Departing New York a fortnight later, Asterion went directly to Key West and then sailed north of the Bahamas to the Windward Passage
Windward Passage
The Windward Passage is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti.80km wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth of 1,700m...
. Returning to New York on 18 August, Asterion sailed at the end of the month for her sixth cruise, which took her through the waters that she had
traversed on the fifth patrol. On 25 September 1942, she was redesignated AK-63. Commencing her seventh cruise on 18 November, the ship proceeded to Key West and, while there, carried out training exercises on 30 November with a friendly submarine.
On 2 December 1942, Asterion got underway for the British West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
and, going via the Old Bahama Channel
Old Bahama Channel
The Old Bahama Channel is a strait off the northern coast of Cuba and the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago and south of the Great Bahama Bank. It is approximately long and wide....
, followed the convoy route to Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, patrolling to the westward of Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, in the Dutch West Indies. Departing Trinidad on the day after Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
the ship headed home and arrived at New York on 10 January 1943.
Over the next few months, Asterion underwent an extensive overhaul, involving the strengthening of her whole structure and modification of her armament. Inspection after her sixth cruise raised considerable doubt as to her ability to remain afloat if hit by even a single torpedo because she had three large holds. A representative of the New York Navy Yard conferred with the Bureau of Ships, Damage Section, who confirmed the opinion that she could not successfully withstand a torpedo hit, and that such a hit would result not only in her eventual sinking but also in such a quick list that her battery would be ineffective. (This weakness almost certainly was responsible for the rapid sinking of Atik.) A conference held in the office of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations decided to increase flotation by building five transverse bulkheads. It was estimated that this would take three months and that it would cost about US $200,000. The work took much longer and cost much more than estimated. Not until 27 September was the overhaul completed—more than eight months after the end of Asterion's latest cruise. The overhaul included re-subdivision by longitudinal and athwart ship bulkheads, the filling of her holds with 16,772 empty steel flotation drums. The Supervising Constructor estimated that the vessel could be completely flooded and 25% of the barrels completely crushed before her well decks would be awash. Thus it seemed probable that she had an excellent chance of remaining afloat if a U-boat made a successful attack on her.
Asterion then steamed to New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, and beginning on 4 September, operated with American submarines in training. After returning briefly to New York, from 18 September to 20 September, she resumed her training at New London before proceeding back to New York for post-shakedown availability.
Coast Guard service
On 14 October 1943, Admiral King decided that, since the Q-ship effort had achieved nothing, Asterion should be assigned to other duties. On 16 December 1943, the venerable auxiliary was ordered to proceed to Boston, Massachusetts, where she reported to the Commandant, lst Naval District, for transfer to the United States Coast GuardUnited States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
.
Turned over to that service and commissioned by it at Boston on 12 January 1944, Asterion (given the designation WAK-123) was converted for service as a weather ship. Ten days later, on 22 January 1944, 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...
. Based at Boston, Asterion served as a weather patrol ship on Atlantic stations 3 and 4.