Raccoon II (IX-127)
1944-1946
A small tree-climbing mammal of North America, active largely at night.
II
(IX-127: displacement 15,425; length 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 28'4"; speed 11 knots; complement 101; armament 1 5-inch, 1 3-inch, 8 20 millimeter; class Armadillo; type Z-ET1-S-C3)
The second Raccoon (IX-127) -- originally projected as J. W. C. Beckham but renamed on 27 October 1943 -- was laid down on 7 November 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. E. Hull No. 1931) at New Orleans, La., by the Delta Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 23 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. W.C. Beckham; accepted from the War Shipping Administration under a bareboat charter on 31 January 1944 at New Orleans; and commissioned on 1 February 1944, Lt. Michael E. Vallario, USNR, in command.
After shakedown off the Gulf Coast, Raccoon, earmarked for duty as a mobile station tanker, then proceeded to Corpus Christi, Texas, where she loaded a cargo of fuel oil. Proceeding via the Panama Canal, she joined the Third Fleet at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, on 5 April 1944. She took on a deck cargo of lube oil drums which she discharged at Purvis Bay. Returning to Espiritu Santo, she then proceeded to Efate, New Hebrides, fueling Battleship Division 3 and Destroyer Division 90. Arriving at Purvis Bay on 20 July, the ship assumed fueling station ship duties there and made several side trips to the Russell Islands.
On 14 September 1944, Raccoon proceeded to Samoa to load fuel oil, returning to Espiritu Santo and Purvis Bay for station duty. With the exception of a short trip to Bougainville, she remained at Purvis Bay until 6 February 1945, when she proceeded to the Russells to fuel a task force of attack transports [APA] and attack cargo ships [AKA]. Departing on 21 March, Raccoon proceeded to Iwo Jima to fuel destroyers [DD] and escort vessels [DE] on patrol screen. She arrived at Saipan on 14 June for harbor fueling duty which lasted through the end of the war iun August 1945 and into April 1946.
She then sailed from the Marianas, transited the Panama Canal, and arrived at Norfolk 3 June 1946. Raccoon was decommissioned on 10 July 1946, and was redelivered to the WSA the next day [11 July], entering the Reserve Fleet's James River berthing area at Lee Hall, Va., and resuming her original projected name J. W. C. Beckham. In the interim, Raccoon was stricken from the Navy Register on 31 July 1946.
Converted to a dry cargo vessel, J. W. C. Beckham was preliminarily allocated to the Fordom Shipping Co. on 31 December 1947, final allocation coming on 16 January 1948. Withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 30 January 1948, the ship was delivered to the Maritime Commission's Norfolk, Va., facility, then taken to Baltimore, Md., where she was purchased by Fordom on 26 March 1948.
Subsequently renamed Chrysanthystar, the ship was sold to the Jupiter Steamship Co. in July 1949, then was renamed twice in succession, first to Jupiter, then to Sea Ranger. Ultimately, she was sold to Nueva Granda Compania Armadora, S.A., in May 1953, and flew the colors of Panama.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman, 31 July 2017
