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Photo # NH 91173:  USS Betelgeuse at Tongatabu, 8 June 1942

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Betelgeuse (AK-28, later AKA-11), 1941-1946

USS Betelgeuse, a 7476-ton Arcturus class cargo ship, was built at Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1939 as the merchant freighter Mormaclark. The Navy purchased her in late May 1941 and placed her in commission as USS Betelgeuse in mid-June, while she was undergoing conversion work at Staten Island, New York. Once completed, the cargo ship was mainly employed in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas. In April 1942, after she had completed a round-trip voyage to Great Britain, Betelgeuse made a trip to the south Pacific. Upon her return to the west coast, she loaded U.S. Marine Corps equipment and returned to the south Pacific, where she took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal in early August. She continued logistics support of the ongoing Guadalcanal Campaign until nearly the end of 1942.

During the first two months of 1943 Betelgeuse was overhauled on the U.S. west coast. She was reclassified as an attack cargo ship in February 1943, receiving the new hull number AKA-11, and transited the Panama Canal to join the Atlantic Fleet soon afterwards. She participated in the invasion of Sicily in June 1943, then was under repair until well into the next year. From May through October 1944, Betelgeuse transported cargo in the Mediterranean area. She was sent back to the Pacific early in 1945, and was part of the amphibious armada that assaulted Okinawa in April. For the rest of World War II, and during the first months after the fighting ended, Betelgeuse transported cargo across the Pacific and supported the occupation effort in Japan and China. She returned to the U.S. late in 1945. Subsequently sent to the east coast, she was decommissioned in March 1946. USS Betelgeuse was sold in June 1946.

This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Betelgeuse (AK-28, later AKA-11).

For views of this ship before she became USS Betelgeuse, see:

  • Mormaclark (Freighter, 1939).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 91173

    USS Betelgeuse (AK-28)


    Alongside the pier at Tongatabu, Tonga Islands, 8 June 1942.
    Note the complex pattern camouflage applied to this ship.

    The original photograph was in a report on Tongatabu held by the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Center Library, 1980.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 560 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-231868

    Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation
    , August 1942

    Ships of the invasion force steaming out of the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area during the afternoon of 9 August 1942.
    Photographed from USS Chicago (CA-29), the view looks eastward, with USS Betelgeuse (AK-28) at right and Guadalcanal island in the distance.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-231869

    Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation
    , August 1942

    Ships of the invasion force steaming out of the Guadalcanal-Tulagi area during the afternoon of 9 August 1942.
    Photographed from USS Chicago (CA-29), the view looks eastward, with USS Betelgeuse (AK-28) in the center and Guadalcanal island in the right distance.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-32367

    Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-15 November 1942


    Smoke rises from two enemy planes shot down during a Japanese air attack on U.S. ships off Guadalcanal, 12 November 1942. Photographed from USS President Adams (AP-38).
    Ship at right is USS Betelgeuse (AK-28). That at left, barely visible beyond President Adams' structure, is USS Libra (AK-53). Smoke in the center distance appears to be a smoke screen.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Betelgeuse (AK-28). The following list features some of these images:

    The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."



  • Photo #: 80-G-31904
    USS Betelgeuse (AK-28) moored in a harbor, 1942.
    Surface view taken from directly off the ship's stern, with a mooring bouy in the foreground. Hull numbers ("K-28"), painted on both sides of the stern, show very well in this view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-31906
    As 80-G-31904, but taken from off the ship's starboard bow. The ship's pattern camouflage (probably Measure 12, Modified) shows up well in this view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-31907
    As 80-G-31904, but taken from off the ship's starboard quarter.

  • Photo #: 80-G-31908
    As 80-G-31904, but taken from off the ship's starboard side.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

  • For views of this ship before she became USS Betelgeuse, see:

  • Mormaclark (Freighter, 1939).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 13 February 2002