GOLD STAR 1920

[john sefton]

GOLD STAR USS. Cargo/Supply. Built at Wilmington, Delaware for the US Navy in 1920 as the merchant ship GOLD STAR. The US Navy took her over on the 8th November 1921. Displacement 4860tn. L391 '9". B52'2". Dr11'10". 12kn. Complement of 52. Commissioned 1st February 1922 as USS ARCTURUS. Renamed GOLD STAR on 6th February 1922 and refitted at Mare Island Navy Yard as a station ship for Guam, arriving there on the 3rd November 1924. She was used to evacuate American citizens from China when the county was attacked by the Japanese. After the attack on Pearl Harbour she was sent to Australia where she traded along the coast until August 1943. She was attacked at Morotai on 28 June 1945. Suffered no damage. Decommissioned at Seattle on 17th April 1946 and sold for scrap on 1st December 1947 - Guam Guard Mail 1981. 10c NC 0NP Jan 98)