USS Cassiopeia
USS Cassiopeia (AK-75) was a in the service of the US Navy in World War II. She was the only ship of to bear this name. She is named after the Northern Hemisphere constellation Cassiopeia. Construction Cassiopeia was launched 15 November 1942 as liberty ship SS Melville W. Fuller by Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 504; sponsored by Mrs. C. F. Calhoun; acquired by the Navy 27 November 1942; and commissioned 8 December 1942. Service history Cassiopeia sailed from San Francisco 21 December 1942 with cargo for Nouméa, where she arrived 12 January 1943. From this base, she offered essential support to the operations in the consolidation of the northern Solomons, carrying the varied necessities of war throughout the South Pacific. Between 19 June and 11 July, the cargo ship voyaged to Auckland, New Zealand, to reload, then returned with voyages from Nouméa to Guadalcanal until 9 August. Another resupply mission and a brief repair period in New Zealand preceded her resumption of South Pacific operations in November. This pattern of ferrying vital supplies in the South Pacific alternating with voyages to New Zealand to reload continued until 6 June 1945, when