USS Zeus (ARB-4) was one of 12 Aristaeus-class

USS Aristaeus (ARB-1)

USS Aristaeus was one of 12 battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. The lead ship in her class, she was named for Aristaeus , the only U.S...

  battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Named for Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 (in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...

, and god of the sky

Sky father

The sky father or heavenly father is a recurring theme in mythology all over the world. The sky father is the complement of the earth mother and appears in some creation myths, many of which are Indo-European or ancient Near Eastern. Other cultures have quite different myths; Egyptian mythology...

 and thunder), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Career

Originally laid down as LST-132 on 17 June 1943 at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; launched on 26 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. C. A. Brown; converted to a battle damage repair ship by the Maryland Drydock Company

Maryland Drydock Company

The Maryland Drydock Company was a shipbuilding company that operated in Baltimore, Maryland during the 20th century.The company started life in 1920 as the Globe Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Maryland. Its President at this time was B. C. Cooke. The company bought land along the Patapsco...

 at Baltimore, Maryland; and commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia on 11 April 1944. Zeus departed Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 on 16 May and, after a stop at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

, Cuba arrived in the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

 on 28 May. She transited the canal on 28 and 29 May and continued her voyage, via San Diego, to Pearl Harbor. The ship arrived in the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 on 23 June and reported to the Commander, Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty. Zeus spent the remainder of World War II repairing damaged ships at intermediate bases such as Eniwetok Atoll. After continued service in the Far East, she returned to San Pedro, California in the spring of 1946. On 30 August 1946 she was placed out of commission and was berthed at San Diego with the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Zeus remained in reserve until 1 June 1973 at which time her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

.

Zeus was sold 1 August 1974 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service to Mickey Jones for commercial service as a salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

processor and freight ship, whereupon she was renamed Cape St. Elias. Sold to Snopac Products in 1986 for service as frozen fish freighter in Alaska. Again sold in 1988 to Icicle Seafoods, she was renamed Coastal Star, and served as a seafood processing ship in Alaska. In December 2005 she was resold to Snopac Products, renamed Snopac Innovator and is currently in service as a seafood processing ship.