Acubens (AKS-5)
1944-1947
The brightest star in the constellation Cancer.
(AKS-5: displacement 14,550; length 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 28'4"; speed 12.5 knots; complement 193; armament 1 5-inch, 4 3-inch, 4 40-millimeter, 8 20-millimeter; class Acubens; type EC2-S-C1)
Jean Louis was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.E. Hull 1935) on 25 November 1943 at New Orleans, La., by the Delta Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 8 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. J. A. Farrington; acquired by the Navy on 9 February 1944; classified as a general stores-issue shp, AKS-5, and renamed Acubens; converted for naval service by Todd-Johnson Dry Docks, Inc., New Orleans; and commissioned on 15 July 1944, Cmdr. Edward B. Ellis, D-M, USNR, in command.
Following shakedown out of Norfolk, Va., and a short run to New York City, Acubens sailed for the Panama Canal on 8 September 1944 and entered the Pacific. The ship dropped anchor at Hollandia, New Guinea, on 25 October and remained there until 10 November issuing stores to vessels of Task Force 76. On the 10th, Acubens transported a load of ammunition to Brisbane, Australia, after which she sailed on 13 December for the Philippines and reached Leyte on the 21st.
Acubens remained based in the Philippines for the duration of the war. Her routine consisted of loading stores at Milne Bay, New Guinea; proceeding to Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, to load more provisions, then steaming back to the Philippines to distribute her cargo. Acubens departed the Philippines on 25 November 1945, bound via Pearl Harbor for the California coast.
The stores ship arrived at San Francisco on 22 December 1945, three days before Christmas. Shortly thereafter, work was begun to prepare the ship for decommissioning. Acubens got underway on 18 January 1946 to return to Pearl Harbor, where she was to be laid up. Acubens was decommissioned on 11 March 1946.
Taken thence to the Reserve Fleet berthing area at Suisun Bay, Calif., which she entered at 11:30 a.m. on 20 June 1947, Acubens was stricken from the Navy Register on 17 July 1947. There she remained until sold on 22 September 1964 to Schnitzer Steel Products Co., along with ex-Hecuba (AKS-12) and the freighter James H. Price. An authorized representative of the purchaser took delivery of ex-Acubens at 1030 on 14 October 1964, and the ship was broken up for scrap subsequently.
Luann Parsons
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
19 December 2023
