Venango (AKA-82)
1945-1946
A county in northwestern Pennsylvania which contains the site of the first successful oil well, drilled in 1859.
(AKA-82: displacement 13,910 (trial); length 459'2"; beam 63'0"; draft 26'4"; speed 16.5 knots; complement 247; armament 1 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 16 20 millimeter; class Tolland; type C2-S-AJ3)
Venango (AKA-82) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull 1391) on 6 June 1944 at Wilmington, N.C., by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 9 August 1944; sponsored by Miss Alana Jane Matthes; placed briefly in service from 25 to 30 August 1944 while being towed to New York harbor for conversion by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Hoboken, N.J.; and commissioned on 2 January 1945, Lt. Cmdr. Thurman A. Whitaker, DM, USNR, in command.
Following trials in Long Island Sound and shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay, the new attack cargo ship got underway from Norfolk on 2 February 1945; transited the Panama Canal on the 8th; and reached Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on Washington's Birthday. There, she reported to Amphibious Forces, Pacific, for duty as a unit of Transport Division (TransDiv) 63. She commenced discharging cargo on the 27th and, the following day, was reassigned to TransDiv 56.
After unloading the cargo she had taken on at Norfolk, Venango proceeded on 4 March 1945 to Army Transport Pier 26 at Honolulu and began taking on cargo for the impending assault on Okinawa. On the 14th, she embarked troops, vehicles, and gear of the Army's 82nd Signal Construction Battalion. The next day, she got underway for a staging point in the Marshalls. On the 23rd, she anchored at Eniwetok; then, on the 25th, again got underway and steamed for the Western Carolines. Off Ulithi on the 29th, she rode out a typhoon-high winds and heavy squalls, and then entered the lagoon the next day and anchored. With elements of Task Group 55.8 steaming in a four-column formation, she departed Ulithi on the afternoon of the 13th and headed for the Ryukyus.
About dawn on 17 April 1945, lookouts on the attack cargo ship sighted Okinawa off the ship's starboard beam, some 16 miles away. Later that morning, she anchored off Okinawa and began unloading her boats at 1830. In the days that followed, Venango continued discharging the troops, cargo, and equipment of the 82nd Signal Battalion. Often at dawn and dusk, the call to general quarters alerted all hands that enemy air raiders lurked nearby. Although Venango sighted no Japanese planes, enemy raiders hit numerous nearby land targets as the cargo ship lay at anchor off Okinawa. On 22 April, she departed the Ryukyus and reached Saipan on the 27th.
On 1 May 1945, she shifted from the anchorage to a dock in Tanapag harbor to load equipment and cargo of the 21st Naval Construction Battalion for transportation to Okinawa. Two days later, she departed Saipan in convoy and, on the 27th, stood into Nakafusuku Wan. Numerous air raids alerts marked the ays that followed. An hour after midnight on 31 May, Venango began discharging her cargo. Frequent alerts continued as she emptied her holds. On 3 June, a Japanese bomber splashed in the transport area; and, the next day, Venango made an emergency sortie with a six-ship merchant convoy to ride out an approaching typhoon. However, the typhoon did not strike Okinawa; and Venango returned to Nakagusuku Wan on the 5th and resumed unloading. On the 6th, action picked up; and observers on the cargo ship witnessed the air attack in which the light minelayers Harry F. Bauer (DM-26) and J. William Ditter (DM-31) downed six Japanese aircraft, despite serious damage to both ships by kamikazes.
Venango departed Okinawa in convoy on the 19th and steamed via Saipan to Pearl Harbor where she arrived on 29 June 1945. She shifted berths to Honolulu harbor on 7 July. There, she loaded miscellaneous cargo, including beer, lumber, cement, and tar, before getting underway on the 13th and steaming independently for the Western Carolines. The same day, main engine damage forced her to reverse her course; and, on the 14th, she found herself back at Pearl for repairs.
The attack cargo ship again departed Oahu on the 23rd, proceeded independently via Ulithi, and arrived at Hydrographer Bank in the Palaus on 6 August 1945. Anchored between Peliliu and Angaur, she loaded cargo and got underway late the following afternoon. She entered Leyte Gulf on the morning of 9 August, unloaded cargo, and was anchored in Guiuan Roadstead off Samar on the 15th, when Japan capitulated. After discharging the remainder of her cargo, she began taking on 8th Army troops and equipment on 1 September. Underway on the 3rd, she anchored in Manila Bay on the 5th; then, two days later, joined the sortie of Transport Squadron (TransRon) 24, bound for Yokohama.
Early on the morning of the 13th, the ships formed a single column and steamed into Tokyo Bay. Venango docked at Yokohama to unload her cargo and, on the 18th, weathered a typhoon. The following day, she departed Tokyo Bay in company with TransRon 24 and set her course for Guam. She arrived at Apra Harbor on the 23rd, loaded cargo of the 3rd Marines, 6th Marine Division and, on the 30th, set her course in convoy for China.
On 12 October 1945, she moored at Tsingtao and began discharging cargo. Still in company with TransRon 24, she departed the Chinese coast on 17 October and anchored in Manila Bay on the 23rd. In November, she carried elements of the 52nd Chinese Army from Haiphong to Chinwangtao, China; then, on the 20th, she departed the Gulf of Pohai off Taku and set her course for the west coast of the United States. Early on the morning of 6 December, she entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, in mid-afternoon, moored at the Naval Station, Seattle, and discharged her passengers.
Following repairs, she got underway on 1 February 1946 and steamed via San Francisco and the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived on the 25th. She was decommissioned there on 18 April; and, on 22 April, she was returned to the War Shipping Administration, entering the James River berthing area of the Maritime Commission's Reserve Fleet off Lee Hall that same day at 7:30 p.m.. Her name was stricken from the Navy List on 1 May 1946.
Ex-Venango was taken under tow by The Moran Towing & Transportation Co. which assumed custody of the vessel under a general agency agreement at Lee Hall, to take her to Baltimore, Md., leaving at 10:00 a.m. on 6 November 1946. Waterman Steamship Co. took delivery of the ship at Mobile, Alabama, title passing at 11 February 1947 at 2:33 p.m. CST, re-christening her as Ponce de Leon. Isbrandtsen Co., Inc., acquired her in March 1952 and renamed her Flying Eagle. She operated under Isbrandtsen's house flag for over a decade, being sold to American Export Lines, Inc., on 31 August 1962, that firm becoming American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, Inc. on 8 June 1964. Valmar Shipping Agency, Ltd., purchased Flying Eagle, renaming her Southern Star on 21 November 1968.
The former attack cargo ship changed hands one more time, when the Polembros [Greek] Group bought her and re-flagged her on 17 February 1970. That spring, renamed Anna and flying Panamanian colors, the ship departed Gdansk, Poland, for India, heavily laden with a cargo of sulphur when she ran into bad weather in the North Sea. Amidst the fury of the storm, Anna's cargo shifted, causing a 45-degree list and compelling the crew to abandon ship on 23 May 1970. Salvage vessels, however, towed the ship to Bremerhaven. Pumped out and reloaded, she resumed her voyage.
Anna was ultimately broken up for scrap at Bilbao, Spain.
Venango received one battle star for her World War II service, for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (12-22 April 1945).
Commanding Officers Dates Assumed Command
Lt. Cmdr. Thurman A. Whitaker, DM, USNR 2 January 1945
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph A. Reilinger, DM, USNR 27 October 1945
Robert J. Cressman
Updated 6 April 2022
