USS Jaguar (IX-120), an Armadillo-class tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the jaguar, a large leopard-like mammal of wooded regions, typically yellowish brown marked with dark spots. Her keel was laid down as Charles T. Yerkes under Maritime Commission contract (Z-ET1-S-C3) by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, in San Pedro, California. She was launched on 20 November 1943, renamed Jaguar 27 October, acquired by the Navy 15 December 1943 and commissioned that day with Lieutenant Commander T. E. Hammond in command.