USS Ancon (AGC-4)

Ancon in 1945
History
United States
Name	Ancon (1939–1962) State of Maine (1962–1973)
Namesake	Ancón, Panama
Builder	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down	23 October 1937
Launched	10 December 1938
Acquired	(by Navy) 7 August 1942
Commissioned	(by Navy) 12 August 1942
Decommissioned	(by Navy) 25 February 1946
In service	1939–1973
Stricken	(by Navy) 17 April 1946
Honours and awards	five battle stars for World War II service
Fate	Scrapped in 1973
General characteristics
Displacement	14,150 tons
Length	493 ft (150 m)
Beam	64 ft (20 m)
Draft	26 ft 3 in (8.00 m)
Propulsion	two steam turbine engines, 9,166 shp
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement	707
Armament	two 5 in (130 mm) gun mounts four twin 40 mm gun mounts fourteen single 20 mm gun mounts

USS Ancon (AGC-4) was one of three identical ships built for the Panama Railroad Company put into operation in 1938. The ship was converted to a troop ship by the Army in January 1942, making several voyages to Australia with troops as an Army Transport. In August 1942 the ship's operation was transferred to the United States Navy for the duration of World War II and converted to a combined headquarters and communications command ship.