USS Lassen (AE-3)

USS Lassen (AE-3)
History
United States
Name
  • Shooting Star
  • Lassen
Namesake
Launched10 January 1940
Acquired15 November 1940
Commissioned27 March 1941
Decommissioned15 January 1947
Stricken1 July 1961
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Class & typeLassen-class ammunition ship
TypeMaritime Commission type C2 cargo
Displacement
  • Light: 6,350 tons
  • Full load:13,855 tons
Length459 ft (140 m)
Beam63 ft (19.2 m)
Draft25 ft 11 in (7.9 m)
Installed power2 300 kw Westinghouse direct current generators driven by 2 direct-connected 6-cylinder 450 hp (340 kW) Superior diesel engines.
Propulsion2 x 9 cyl. Nordberg diesel engines each with 3,155 bhp (2,353 kW) at 225 rpm geared to 1 shaft through Falk reduction gears and American Blower Corporation hydraulic oil couplings
Speed16 knots (30 km/h)
Capacity5,000 deadweight tons
Complement280 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 1 × single 5 in (127 mm) 38 caliber gun
  • 4 × single 3 in (76 mm) 50 caliber guns
  • 2 × twin 40 mm guns
  • 8 × twin 20 mm guns

USS Lassen (AE-3) was built as MS Shooting Star under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract, was delivered to the U.S. Navy after sea trials, and became an ammunition cargo ship during World War II. Like many Naval ships of this category that carried large amounts of explosive cargo, she was named for a volcano (or a volcanic island). In this case, the ship was named for Lassen Peak, a volcano in northern California that erupted heavily in 1914–17.