Stag AW-1

Stag

(AW-1: dp. 14,350 1. 441'6", b. 56'11~; dr. 28'4, s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 17i; a. 1 5~, 1 3"; cl. Stag; T.ET1—S-C3)

Stag (AW-1), ex-IX-128 was laid down as SS Norman O. Pedrick (MC hull 1932) on 13 November 1943 by Delta Shipbuilding Co., New Orleans, La.; launched on 7 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Parks B. Pedrick, acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration under a bareboat charter on 16 February 1944; and commissioned the same day, Lt. Emery A. Winckler in command.

Stag was converted from a tanker to a water distilling ship by the Tampa Shipbuilding Corp., Tampa, Fla., from 1 March through late July. On 7 August, she held sea trials and shakedown off Galveston, Tex. Twenty days later, she got underway for the Panama Canal. On 13 September, Stag stood out of the canal and proceeded independently to New Guinea. The 32 day cruise proved uneventful, and the tanker dropped anchor in Finschhafen, New Guinea on 15 October only to receive orders to move to Hollandia that day. She arrived at Humboldt Bay on the 18th and was
assigned to Service Squadron 9, Service Force, 7th Fleet. From 19 October through 21 November, she supplied fresh water to fleet units and merchantmen.

Stag sailed for the Philippines with a convoy on 22 November and arrived in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, six days later. She shuttled between there, Lingayen Subic Bay, Mindoro, and Manila until mid-May 1945 supplying water to fleet units. On 16 May, she sailed for Morotai, Netherlands East Indies, and supplied water to units there for two months before returning to the Philippines. She continued operating in that archipelago until the end of the year when she was ordered to return, via Pearl Harbor and San Diego, to the east coast.

Stag reported to the Commander, Atlantic Fleet, at Norfolk, Va, on 25 February 1946 for duty and to the 5th Naval District on 5 March for disposal. She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 30 April and was struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946.