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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSPegasus |
| Builder | Helsingør Jernskibs og Maskinbyggeri,Helsingør,Denmark |
| Launched | 1939, asRita Maersk |
| Completed | 27 December 1939 |
| Acquired | by the US Navy, 18 September 1941 |
| Commissioned | 3 December 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 19 April 1946 |
| Renamed | USSPegasus, 15 October 1941 |
| Reclassified | IX-222 (Miscellaneous Unclassified), 15 May 1945 |
| Fate | Returned to theMaritime Commission, 19 April 1946, sold commercial, scrapped January 1972 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship |
| Displacement | 1,930 long tons (1,961 t) light |
| Length | 299 ft 1 in (91.16 m) |
| Beam | 42 ft 6 in (12.95 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Speed | 12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 156 |
| Armament |
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USSPegasus was built in 1939 asSSRita Maersk byHelsingør Jernskibs og Maskinbyggeri A/A,Helsingør,Denmark. Following the outbreak ofWorld War II inEurope, she sailed to theUnited States where she operated under charter from theMaritime Commission asRita Maersk and later asLarwin. After completing two cruises, she was laid up atBoston, Massachusetts, until 18 September 1941 when she was acquired by theUnited States Navy from theMaritime Commission. RenamedUSSPegasus on 15 October 1941, thecargo ship was converted for U.S. Navy use bySullivan Drydock and Repair Corporation,New York City, and commissioned at New York on 3 December 1941.
Following an abbreviatedshakedown,Pegasus loaded militarycargo including 600depth charges and sailed inconvoy forIceland on 27 December. Despite fierce seas and the menace of GermanU-boats, she reachedReykjavík,Iceland, early in January 1942. There, raging winterstorms driven by winds in excess of 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph) imperiled the ship and hercargo, and she did not return to theU.S. East Coast until late February.
On 24 MarchPegasus joined her secondIceland-boundconvoy, and during the spring and summer months of 1942 she completed three round trips to Iceland and back. Herholds anddecks carried supplies for the Allied effort in the NorthAtlantic. Although she escaped the Germansubmarines, she saw several merchantmen, including two on 31 August, fall prey totorpedo attacks.
Pegasus returned toBoston, Massachusetts, on 11 October; and, after completing repairs to her mainengine, she sailed on 16 November to begin extended operations in theCaribbean. Laden with dynamite andSeabee construction material, she arrivedSt. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on 11 December. She continued toNew Orleans,Louisiana, a week later and loaded construction supplies forPuerto Rico. Between 18 January 1943 and mid-May she made four runs to Puerto Rico and back; thence, during June and July she hauled U.S. Navy cargo toCristobal,Panama Canal Zone. Ordered to New York, she loadedammunition and military stores and transported them toCuba early in September.
The busycargo ship resumed her cargo shuttle runs between theGulf Coast and ports in theCaribbean and the Panama Canal Zone in October. During the next ten months she hauled thousands of tons of war material to American bases in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and theVirgin Islands. While en route toSan Juan, Puerto Rico, in mid-May 1944, she sustained extensive damage to her cargo after a fire broke out in her fire room. She discharged cargo atKey West, Florida, and quickly resumed duty.
Pegasus returned to the Panama Canal Zone in July, and on the 22nd, she transited theCanal with a cargo of Navy supplies for bases atBalboa, Panama. Yet another assignment sent her to the Panama Canal Zone on 17 August; thence, she sailed forGuantánamo Bay, Cuba, on 23 August. On the 25th herengine failed. She drifted for almost two days until taken in tow by the tugATR-21. Following temporary repairs in Cuba, she reachedNorfolk, Virginia, on 17 September for a three-month overhaul. She resumed duty on 30 December with a run to Puerto Rico where she encountered a severetropical storm. While returning to Norfolk, Virginia, via theFlorida coast, she encountered another storm offCape Hatteras early in February 1945. She sustained further damage to her engine, but reached Norfolk at reduced speed on 3 February.
During the next two monthsPegasus underwent extensive overhaul. On 5 April she was assigned to Service Squadron 10 for duty in the westernPacific Ocean as a drycargo station ship. She departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 18 April, transited the Panama Canal on 27 April, and steamed viaSan Diego, California, toPearl Harbor. She was reclassifiedIX–222 on 15 May. Between 7 and 20 June, she was towed toEniwetok byKeosanqua (ATA-198); thence she sailed 25 June for thePhilippines. Steaming viaUlithi, she arrivedLeyte Gulf on 18 July.
Pegasus supplied ships of thePacific Fleet during the closing weeks of the war as well as after theJapanese surrender. She operated inLeyte Gulf for the rest of the year and into 1946 and discharged thousands of tons of ships’ stores. She departed thePhilippines in February and sailed for theU.S. West Coast, arrivingSan Francisco, California, on 4 March.
Pegasus decommissioned at San Francisco, California, on 19 April 1946 and was returned to theWar Shipping Administration the same day. Her name was struck from theNaval Register on 1 May 1946.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.