Construction Japan Arrow's keel was laid down in 1920 as
yard number 1386 at the
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's
Fore River Shipyard in
Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on October 23 of that year, and entered service for Socony on November 24. She was acquired by the
War Shipping Administration in March 1942 and placed into war service, sailing from
Abadan, Iran, to ports in
South Africa,
Australia, and India.
Chotauk was transferred from the
War Shipping Administration at
Pearl Harbor on 29 November 1944, and
commissioned the same day. She served as a station tanker with the
Pacific Fleet for the last year of the war; first at
Eniwetok from 3 January to 14 February 1945, then at
Ulithi from 23 February to 10 July, and at
Okinawa from 17 July to 29 October. The ship received three
campaign medals—the
American Campaign Medal, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the
World War II Victory Medal—for her service.
Chotauk returned to
Mobile, Alabama, on 5 January 1946. She was
decommissioned there and returned to the
War Shipping Administration on 7 February 1946, where her name changed once more to
American Arrow. == References ==