The USS Caelum (AK-106), a Crater-class cargo ship was involved in the delivery of troops, equipment, and goods to Asiatic-Pacific Theater locations. The ship was laid down by California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles, as SS Wyatt Earp under a Maritime Commission contract on June 30, 1943. The ship was then launched on July 25, 1943, and delivered to the U.S. Navy on August 10, 1943, and was commissioned under Lieutenant Commander Edgar Johnson’s command on October 22, 1943. The ship reported to the US Pacific Fleet and housed asbestos-containing products such as boiler and steam pipe insulation, fireproofing material for bulkheads, brake linings in winches, and gaskets of valves and pipe. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 196 men on board and it carried cargo between Pearl Harbor and Kwajalein, Majuro, Tarawa, Ulithi, and Eniwetok. The ship received one battle star for its service in World War II and was decommissioned on July 30, 1946, at Seattle, Washington. Finally, on October 19, 1961, the ship was sold to be scrapped.
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