Aldebaran Financial
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Aldebaran Financial
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Hostilities ceased on 15 August 1945, but Aldebaran continued replenishment-at-sea operations during the initial stages of the occupation of Japan. She was present at Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 when Japanese officials signed the surrender document on board Missouri (BB- 63). For the remainder of 1945 Aldebaran provided logistics support for forces occupying Japan and her former conquests. On 17 January 1946, the stores ship departed Taku, China, on her way back to the United States. She arrived in Seattle, Wash., on 31 January and entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard a week later for a two-month repair period. Aldebaran returned to Seattle on 6 April, and began preparations for her last voyage to the Far East. On 22 April, she put to sea bound for Japan. The ship reached Yokosuka on 8 May and from there, continued on to Tsingtao, China, and Okinawa. On 15 June, Aldebaran departed Okinawa to return to the United States. Her ultimate destination was the east coast. After a stop at San Pedro, California, she resumed her voyage, transited the Panama Canal, and arrived at Bayonne, N.J., on 18 July.
After a voyage to North Africa and western Europe in August and September, Aldebaran settled into a routine of operations along the east coast punctuated by voyages to the West Indies to provide logistics support to bases and ships in that region and to participate in exercises. Such pursuits occupied her time for almost 19 months, until the beginning of June 1948. On the 4th she stood out of Chesapeake Bay to embark upon the first of many missions to the Mediterranean Sea. For the next two decades, Aldebaran alternated between assignments to the Mediterranean Sea and operations in the western Atlantic. Unlike most other ships attached to the 6th Fleet, she did not normally serve extended periods of time in the Mediterranean. Instead, her cruises tended to be about six to ten weeks in duration and she generally made two or three of them a year. She would remain in the Mediterranean as long as she retained a sufficient stock of provisions for issue. When those stocks began to run low, Aldebaran returned to the United States. Turnaround time at home varied. Scheduled overhauls meant extended periods in the United States. In addition, other resupply missions, such as to forces operating in the West Indies replaced voyages to the Mediterranean on her schedule. Occasional interludes in northern European waters also varied Aldebaran's itinerary. Twice during her postwar career, Aldebaran participated in operations for which she received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. During the summer of 1958, the United States landed marines in Lebanon to help restore domestic order in that country. The stores ship got underway from Norfolk just four days after the landings to provide logistics services to the ships supporting those troops. Four years later, in the fall of 1962, President John F. Kennedy surrounded the island of Cuba with a cordon of warships to stop the flow of Soviet missiles to that island and to force the removal of those already in place. Aldebaran's at-sea replenishment capabilities helped those ships maintain a constant vigil thereby contributing to the successful conclusion of the matter. Aldebaran continued her active service to United States naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea and in the West Indies until mid-1968. On 28 June 1968, she was placed out of commission at Norfolk. Four months later, on 29 October, Aldebaran was transferred to the Maritime Administration to be berthed with the National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River, Virginia. That transfer was made permanent on 30 June 1969. Aldebaran's name was struck from the Navy list on I June 1973, and she was sold on 14 November 1974 to Andy International, Brownsville, Tex., for scrapping. Aldebaran was awarded two battle stars during World War II.
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