View source for USS Luna

{{Short description|Liberty ship of WWII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Luna (AKS-7).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Luna'' (AKS-7)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name= ''Harriet Hosmer''
|Ship namesake= [[Harriet Hosmer]]
|Ship owner= [[War Shipping Administration]] (WSA)
|Ship operator= [[Standard Fruit & Steamship Company]]
|Ship ordered= as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, [[Maritime Commission|MC]] hull 1528
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[J.A. Jones Construction]], [[Panama City, Florida|Panama City]], Florida
|Ship original cost=$2,204,181{{sfn|MARCOM}}
|Ship yard number=10
|Ship way number=4
|Ship laid down=23 April 1943
|Ship launched=30 September 1943
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship acquired=25 October 1943
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=*[[International Code of Signals|Call Signal]]: KXLX
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|X-ray}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|X-ray}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}
|Ship fate= Transferred to [[US Navy]], 2 November 1943
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name= ''Luna''
|Ship namesake= [[Moon|Luna]]
|Ship acquired= 2 November 1943
|Ship commissioned= 31 January 1944
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned= 28 April 1946
|Ship reclassified= General Stores Issue Ship, '''AKS'''
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: AKS-7
*Code letters: NAZB
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Zulu}}{{ICS|Bravo}}
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate= *Laid up in [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]], [[Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet|Suisun Bay Group]], 21 May 1947
* Sold for scrapping, 23 October 1964
|Ship notes= Name reverted to ''Harriet Hosmer'' when laid up in Reserve Fleet
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= {{sfn|Navsource}}
|Ship class= {{sclass|Acubens|General Stores Issue Ship}}
|Ship tonnage= {{Liberty ship tonnage}}
|Ship displacement= {{Liberty ship displacement}}
|Ship length= {{Liberty ship length}}
|Ship beam= {{Liberty ship beam}}
|Ship draft= {{Liberty ship draft}}
|Ship capacity= {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship power= {{Liberty ship power}}
|Ship propulsion= {{Liberty ship propulsion|7}}
|Ship complement= 195
|Ship speed= {{Liberty ship speed}}
|Ship armament=* 1 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|0}}]] [[dual-purpose gun]]
* 1 × [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|{{cvt|3|in|0}}]] dual-purpose
* 8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|1}} Oerlikon cannons]]
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Luna'' (AKS-7)''' was a [[Liberty ship]] built in the [[United States]] during [[World War II]]. She was originally named for [[Harriet Hosmer]], a [[Neoclassicism#Sculpture|neoclassical sculptor]], considered the first female professional sculptor. She was converted shortly after completion to an {{sclass|Acubens|general stores issue ship}} and renamed ''Luna'', the latin name for the [[Moon]]. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
==Construction==
''Harriet Hosmer'' was laid down 23 April 1943, under a [[Maritime Commission]] (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1528, by [[J.A. Jones Construction]], [[Panama City, Florida|Panama City]], Florida; she was launched 30 September 1943.{{sfn|J.A. Panama City|2010}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}
==Service history==
''Harriet Hosmer'' was allocated to the [[Standard Fruit & Steamship Company]], on 25 October 1943, for transport to [[Tampa]], Florida. Acquired by the Navy, 2 November 1943, she was converted by [[Tampa Shipbuilding Co.]]; renamed ''Luna'' 13 November 1943; and commissioned 31 January 1944.{{sfn|DANFS}}
''Luna'' departed [[Norfolk, Virginia]], 19 March 1944, passed through the [[Panama Canal]], and arrived [[Pearl Harbor]] 15 April. After being assigned to [[ServRon]] 10, she sailed for her first issue area 19 April, and arrived [[Majuro Atoll]], Marshall Islands, 27 April, to service units of the [[U.S. 5th Fleet]]. After a short voyage to [[Kwajalein]], she proceeded to [[Eniwetok]] 3 June, and returned Pearl Harbor 8 July. She then steamed to [[Oakland, California]], the 6th to reload at the Naval Supply Depot; this was to be her only return to the [[United States]] until after the war.{{sfn|DANFS}}
From 1944 to 1946, the ship continued servicing the [[U.S. 3rd Fleet]] and the U.S. 5th Fleet in the South Pacific. While at [[Ulithi]], Caroline Islands, 24 October 1945, she assisted {{USS|Viburnum|AN-57|2}} who had struck a [[naval mine|mine]]. After successfully completing seven issuing voyages and servicing 1,121 different ships, ''Luna'' was ordered to [[Tokyo Bay]] 25 September 1945, to load for the final voyage home.{{sfn|DANFS}}
== Post-war decommissioning ==
She arrived [[San Francisco]], California, 28 December, and returned to Pearl Harbor, where she was decommissioned 28 April 1946. She was then towed back to San Francisco, and delivered back to MARCOM on 21 May 1947, and laid up in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]], in the [[Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet|Suisun Bay Group]]. On 23 October 1964, she was sold, along with another ship, for $111,226 to [[Nicolai Joffe Corp.]], for scrapping. She was removed from the fleet on 2 November 1964.{{sfn|MARAD}}{{sfn|DANFS}}
== Military awards and honors ==
''Luna''{{'}}s crew was eligible for the following medals:
* [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
* [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
* [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] (with Asia clasp)
{{sfn|Navsource}}
==References==
{{reflist|20em}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite DANFS
|url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/luna.html
|title= Luna
|publisher= [[Naval History and Heritage Command]]
|access-date= 22 November 2017
|ref= {{sfnRef|DANFS}}
}}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/jonespanamacity.htm
| title = Jones Construction, Panama City FL
| publisher =  www.ShipbuildingHistory.com
| date = 13 October 2010
| access-date = 22 November 2017
| ref = {{sfnRef|J.A. Panama City|2010}}
}}
* {{cite web
|url= https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/8422
|title=Harriet Hosmer
|author=Maritime Administration
|work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card
|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration
|access-date= 11 December 2019
|ref={{sfnref|MARAD}}
}}
* {{cite web
|url= http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Harriet%20Hosmer&code=B1528a
|title= SS ''Harriet Hosmer''
|access-date= 11 December 2019
|ref= {{sfnRef|MARCOM}}
}}
* {{cite web
| url= http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/16/1607.htm
| title= USS Luna (AKS-7)
| publisher= Navsource.org
| date= 21 November 2014
| access-date= 22 November 2017
| ref={{sfnRef|Navsource}}
}}
{{refend}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/16/1607.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - AKS-7 Luna]
{{MARCOM ships Jones-Panama City Shipyard}}
{{Acubens class stores ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luna (AKS-7)}}
[[Category:Liberty ships]]
[[Category:Acubens-class general stores issue ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Panama City, Florida]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet]]