Cheleb (AK-138)
1944-1947
(AK-138: displacement 4,023; length 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 28'4"; speed 12.0 knots; complement 198; armament 1 5-inch, 1 3-inch, 8 20 millimeter; class Crater; type EC2-S-C1)
A star in the northern constellation Ophiuchus.
Lyman J. Gage was laid down on 29 December 1942 at Richmond, Calif., by Permanente Metals Corp., Yard No.1 , under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.E. Hull 520); launched on 29 January 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs. E. E. Carter; and commissioned on 1 January 1944, Lt. Addison E. McKimmey, USNR, in command.
Cheleb cleared San Francisco 20 January 1944 for Pearl Harbor, where she loaded ammunition and explosives for transportation to newly won Kwajalein, which she reached 19 February. Here her cargo, destined for use in the assault of Eniwetok which began that day, was unloaded, and on 11 March, Cheleb cleared for Port Hueneme, Calif., base for the Pacific Naval Construction Battalions. After delivering construction equipment at Pearl Harbor, on 18 April, she returned to Oakland, Calif., where she was converted to a fleet issue ship.
Cheleb loaded a varied cargo at San Francisco, and with it arrived at Kwajalein 5 June 1944 to supply ships readying for the assault on the Marianas 10 days later. Cheleb also issued stores at Majuro and Eniwetok until 2 August, when she sailed from the Marshalls for San Francisco to reload. Returning to Ulithi 15 October, she supplied ships of the vast 3d Fleet for the next month, as they carried out their operations supporting the assault on the Philippines. She returned to the west coast to reload in December, and on 22 January 1945 arrived at Eniwetok to provision ships bound for the invasion of Iwo Jima, and later ships destined for the assault on Okinawa. Another voyage to the west coast for repairs and reloading took place in May and June, and on 22 July Cheleb arrived in Leyte Gulf to take up the task of issuing supplies once more. During this time, she serviced some of the ships conducting the final pounding air attacks on the Japanese home islands.
Cheleb arrived in Tokyo Bay on 17 November 1945, and remained to issue provisions and supplies to occupation forces at the ports of Tokyo, Yokohama, and Yokosuka. She returned to San Francisco 12 May, and later sailed to Pearl Harbor, where she was decommissioned on 25 July 1946. After use in a special explosives test, she was turned over to the War Shipping Administration for disposal, her contribution to the Navy's great logistic effort at an end. Her name was stricken from the Navy Register on 22 May 1947.
