abstract
| - USS Ascella (AK-137) was an Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after Ascella, a star in the constellation Sagittarius. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone. SS George C. Yount was laid down on 7 January 1943 at Wilmington, California, by the California Shipbuilding Corp. under a Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 708); launched on 4 February 1943; sponsored by Mrs. E. Rickenbacker; delivered to the American President Lines, for operation by a civilian crew under a War Shipping Administration contract; acquired by the Navy on a bare-boat basis on 30 November 1943; modified by the Matson Navigation Co., at San Francisco, California, to prepare her for naval service; renamed Ascella and designated AK-137 on 14 December 1943; and commissioned at Hunters Point, California, on 7 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. Alexander Kusebach, USNR, in command.
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