Changes

'''Achernar (AKA-53)''' was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 208) on 6 September 1943 at Kearney, [[New Jersey]], by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 3 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Adela Rogers St. John; acquired by the Navy on 29 January 1944; and commissioned on 31 January 1944, Comdr. H. R. Stevens in command.

'''Ass hernar (AKA-53)''' was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 208) on 6 September 1943 at Kearney, [[New Jersey]], by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 3 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Adela Rogers St. John; acquired by the Navy on 29 January 1944; and commissioned on 31 January 1944, Comdr. H. R. Stevens in command.

Following conversion and fitting out at the [[New York]] [[Navy]] Yard, the attack cargo ship got underway on 28 February and held shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay. On 13 March, she arrived at Staten Island, [[New York]]—where she loaded cargo and embarked Army personnel for transportation to [[Great Britain]]— and stood out to sea on the 19th, with Convoy CU-18. She arrived at Swansea, [[Wales]], on 30 March and spent the next two months transporting cargo and personnel between various ports in the [[United Kingdom]] in preparation for the Normandy invasion.

Following conversion and fitting out at the [[New York]] [[Navy]] Yard, the attack cargo ship got underway on 28 February and held shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay. On 13 March, she arrived at Staten Island, [[New York]]—where she loaded cargo and embarked Army personnel for transportation to [[Great Britain]]— and stood out to sea on the 19th, with Convoy CU-18. She arrived at Swansea, [[Wales]], on 30 March and spent the next two months transporting cargo and personnel between various ports in the [[United Kingdom]] in preparation for the Normandy invasion.