USS ''Matar'' (AK-119) was a , converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

for service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was first named after

Napoleon B. Broward Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (April 19, 1857 – October 1, 1910) was an American river pilot, captain, and politician. He was elected as the 19th governor of the U.S. state of Florida, serving from January 3, 1905, to January 5, 1909. He was mos ...

, an American river pilot, captain, and politician; he was elected as the 19th Governor of the US state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She was renamed and commissioned after Matar, a

binary star A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

Construction

''Napoleon R. Broward'' was laid down on 16 October 1943, under

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

(MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1214, by the

St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company The St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company was created in Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida during World War II to build Liberty ships. Company history The company was established by local shipbuilder and repairer Merrill-Stevens Drydock ...

, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. Napoleon B. Broward, widow of the namesake, and launched 30 November 1943. Acquired by the

under bareboat charter 10 December 1943; converted for Navy use by Merrill Stevens Drydock & Repair Co., Jacksonville; and commissioned as ''Matar'' at Jacksonville, 17 May 1944.

Service history

After completing conversion, ''Matar'' steamed to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, 28 May, for

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. Thence, she loaded cargo at

Davisville, Rhode Island Davisville, Rhode Island is a village in the town of North Kingstown in the U.S. state of Rhode Island that was formerly the home of the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, which housed the United States Navy's SeaBees. Village descri ...

, and

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...

, before departing

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, for the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

25 June, arriving

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, 25 July. ''Matar'' discharged cargo and refilled her holds with ammunition, field rations, and amphibious equipment. Operating under

Service Squadron A Service Squadron (ServRon) was a United States Navy squadron that supported fleet combat ships and US Navy Auxiliary ships. Service Squadrons were used by the US Navy from their inception in 1943 to as late as the early 1980s. At the time of th ...

8, she sailed with units of task force TF 31 on 20 August, for the

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

s. Steaming via the Marshalls and the Admiralties, ''Matar'' reached

Kossol Passage Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...

, 20 September. As

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for CTG 31.4, she operated at

Kossol Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
...

, until 17 October, when she departed for Angaur Island. From 19 to 24 October, she discharged cargo into boats for transfer to the beaches; thence, she embarked

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

and amphibious tanks at Peleliu, and sailed for the Russell Islands, 30 October. She debarked her troops there 7 November; arrived off

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 ...

, 9 November; and embarked 130 troops. Departing Lunga, 18 November, she arrived

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, via Pearl Harbor, 11 December. Altered for duty as a stores issue ship and loaded with medical supplies and ship's stores, ''Matar'' departed San Francisco, 18 January 1945, and arrived

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

, 8 February. Assigned to Service Squadron 10, she steamed to the

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

between 10 and 14 February. For the next 3 months she operated out of

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

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, dispensing medical and general stores to the fleet. ''Matar'' arrived

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

, the Ryūkyūs, 14 May; discharged some cargo; and shifted to the anchorage off Hagushi,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, 29 May. She issued dry provisions and medical stores, and in addition provided smoke cover during enemy airstrikes. On 27 June, she sailed for

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

and Pearl Harbor. Replenishing there between 2 and 14 August, she steamed to Eniwetok, thence to

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 ...

, 7 September, arriving

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

, 15 September, to service ships on occupation duty in Japanese waters. She completed this duty early in November, and between 5 November and 1 December, steamed via Pearl Harbor, to San Francisco.

Decommissioning

''Matar'' sailed 6 February 1946, for Pearl Harbor, arrived 15 February, and decommissioned 15 March 1946. She transferred to the custody of MARCOM 8 October 1947, and entered the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet,

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

, California. Her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

31 October 1947. She was sold for scrapping to Levin Metals Corp., on 13 April 1971, for $44,133, and withdrawn from the fleet on 21 May 1971.

Military awards and honors

''Matar'' received two

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for World War II service and her crew was eligible for the following medals and campaign ribbons: *

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ** Western Caroline Islands operation (Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands -Angaur Island, 19 to 24 October 1944) ** Okinawa Gunto operation (Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 14 May to 27 June 1945) * World War II Victory Medal *

Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was "Awarded to commemorate the services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel in the occupation of certain territories of the enemies of the U.S. durin ...

(with Asia clasp)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matar (AK-119) Crater-class cargo ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in Jacksonville, Florida 1943 ships Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet