USS ''Circe'' (AKA-25) was an named after the asteroid ''

34 Circe Circe, minor planet designation 34 Circe, is a large, very dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer J. Chacornac on April 6, 1855, and named after Circe, the bewitching queen of Aeaea island in Greek mythology. The spectr ...

,'' which in turn was named after '' Circe,'' a goddess or sorceress in Greek mythology. USS ''Circe'' served as a commissioned ship for 18 months. ''Circe'' (AKA-25) was launched 4 August 1944 by

Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. was a shipyard in both Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island. It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. It was originally operated by Rh ...

Providence, R.I. Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. R. E. Dougherty; acquired by the Navy 10 November 1944; and commissioned the same day.

Service history

1945

''Circe'' reached Pearl Harbor from the

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3 January 1945. Twenty days later she put to sea with Marine reinforcements and explosives for

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, and through February, ferried troops in the Guadalcanal area. After practice landings in Savo Sound, she reported at Ulithi 21 March to stage for the assault of Okinawa. Between 1 April 1945 and 6 April, ''Circe'' was part of the vast armada off Okinawa, closing the coast in daylight to offload men and equipment, and retiring seaward at night. She called at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

and Pearl Harbor on her passage to San Francisco, where from 19 May to 27 May she loaded cargo for a voyage to Pearl Harbor. Sailing again from San Francisco 24 June, she carried pilots and ground crews to Eniwetok, Kwajalein, Saipan, and Tinian, returning with men thus relieved to Pearl Harbor 13 August. Clearing Pearl Harbor 25 September 1945, ''Circe'' supported the occupation on cargo duty which took her to ports in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Korea, returning with homeward bound servicemen to San Francisco 20 December 1945.

Decommissioning

There she was decommissioned 20 May 1946, and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal 26 June 1946. ''Circe'' received one battle star for World War II service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: AKA-25 ''Circe''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Circe (AKA-25) Artemis-class attack cargo ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Providence, Rhode Island 1944 ships