USS Elk (IX-115), an Armadillo-class tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the elk, a large deer of the northern forests of Europe, Asia, and North America. Her keel was laid down by California Shipbuilding Corporation, in Wilmington, California, as William Winter for the Maritime Commission. She was launched on 6 November 1943 sponsored by Mrs. H. H. Hall, delivered direct to the Navy 26 November 1943, and commissioned the same day with Lieutenant W. T. Stannard, USNR, in command.