Ganymede (AK-104)
1943-1947
The third satellite of the planet Jupiter.
(AK-104: displacement (trial) 14,350; length 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 28'4"; speed 13 knots; complement 219; armament 1 5-inch, 4 40 millimeter, 6 20 millimeter; class Crater; type EC2)
James W. Nye was laid down on 16 May 1943 under Maritime Commission contract (M. C. E. Hull 1571) at Richmond, Calif., by Permanente Metals Shipbuilding Division Yard No.2; authorized for acceptance by the U.S. Navy on 22 May 1943; classified as a cargo ship, AK-104, and renamed Ganymede on 27 May 1943; launched on 8 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William C. Dalby of Oakland, Calif.; assigned to the General Engineering & Dry Dock Co. for conversion on 19 June 1943; acquired on 23 June 1943; and commissioned on 31 July 1943, Lt. Cmdr. Glenn H. Melichar in command.
After shakedown training out of Oakland, Calif., Ganymede, having been placed under the control of Commander, Seventh Fleet, for an indefinite period while assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, departed San Francisco on 28 August 1943 carrying military cargo to Pallikulo Bay, New Hebrides, and to Queensland, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia. Assigned to the Seventh Fleet Service Force, she sailed from Queensland on 29 November 1943 with fuel, supplies, and passengers for Milne and Langemak Bays, New Guinea and thence returned to Australia.
During the next 12 months she transported military cargo of many types and provided limited passenger service from ports of Australia to bases in New Guinea, including Humboldt Bay, Milne Bay, Cape Sudest and Terahmerah Bay. Her itinerary was expanded in February 1945 to include Leyte, Manila, Subic Bay and Samar in the Philippines, with occasional calls at Manus, Admiralty Islands.
Ganymede continued her busy Australia-New Guinea-Philippines-Australia supply circuit until 20 November when she departed Brisbane, Australia, for the U.S. arriving at San Francisco on 18 December. She remained in port until 25 February 1946 when she sailed for Pearl Harbor to take part in special explosive tests prior to her decommissioning there on 15 April 1946.
Towed back to San Francisco, Ganymede was stricken from the Naval Register on 1 August 1947 and was returned to the War Shipping Administration on 1 October 1947, entering the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California.
