>From the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," 

(1969) Vol. 4, p.313.





MEGREZ





	A star of the third magnitude, the fourth brightest in 

the constellation Ursa Majoris.





AK-126

Displacement:  4,023 t. (light displacement)

Length:  441'6"

Beam:  56'11"

Draft:  28'4"

Speed:  12.5 k.

Complement:  218

Armament:  1 5"; 1 3"; 2 40mm

Class:  CRATER

Maritime Commission Standard Type:  EC2-S-C1





	MEGREZ (AK-126), built under Maritime Commission 

contract by the California Ship Building Corp., Wilmington, 

Calif., was launched as GENERAL VALLEJO (MC hull No. 1642) 

23 April 1943; and sponsored by Mrs. J. R. Jago.  She was 

acquired by the Navy under bareboat charter from the 

Maritime Commission 7 October 1943; renamed MEGREZ 

11 October 1943; converted by the Bethlehem Steel Co., 

Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco, Calif.; and 

commissioned 26 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. J. E. Dow, USNR, in 

command.



	Departing San Francisco Bay 13 November 1943, MEGREZ 

headed for Micronesia.  She operated out of Funafuti and, 

after 6 March 1944, Kwajalein, as the "wholesaler" 

distributing dry provisions, clothing, medical supplies, and 

ship's store stock to mobile supply base craft, which in 

turn distributed supplies directly to the consumer units of 

the fleet.  She returned to Pearl Harbor 2 June and took on 

a cargo of rolling stock, sheet metals, and ammunition for 

transportation to the Marianas in support of Saipan and 

Tinian operations.  Leaving Hawaiian waters 19 June, she 

steamed, via Kwajalein and Eniwetok, for Saipan, arriving 

14 August.  Two days later, she moved to Tinian where she 

discharged her cargo at a rate of 590 tons a day.  She next 

sailed for Eniwetok, arriving on the 31st to become a 

floating supply and freight depot once again.  In October, 

she was reassigned and on her arrival at Ulithi 14 October, 

she became a station ship for the issuance of lube oil to 

the 3d and 5th Fleets.  MEGREZ served in this capacity for 

the next 7 months, supplying this vital fluid to the 

warships as they pressed closer to the enemy's home islands.



	On 13 April 1945, her tour as a floating supply center 

completed, MEGREZ departed Ulithi for Kossol Roads carrying 

fleet freight and general stores and supplies.  She arrived 

in the Palau Islands on the 14th, unloaded her cargo and 

departed for San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands, on the 18th.  

Through September, MEGREZ freighted cargo among the 

Philippines and between San Pedro Bay and Ulithi.  On 

5 October, she departed for Buckner Bay, Okinawa, arriving 

on the 13th and continuing on to Japan 3 November.  Arriving 

at Yokosuka on the 7th, she supplied ships in the Sea of 

Japan, the Yellow and East China Seas until departing for 

Pearl Harbor in early 1946.



	Decommissioned at Pearl Harbor 29 May 1946, she was 

towed to San Francisco a year later.  Her name was struck 

from the Navy Register 1 August 1947 and she was turned over 

to the Maritime Commission 18 September 1947.  Since that 

time she has been laid up at Suisan Bay, Benecia, Calif., as 

a unit of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com