The USS Pastores (AF-16) was a Pastores-class store ship constructed by Workman, Clark & Company in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1912. Originally owned by the United Fruit Company, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 1 May 1918 and commissioned shortly thereafter on 6 May 1918. The vessel served primarily as a stores ship, responsible for supplying food, provisions, and war materials to U.S. and Allied forces during both World Wars. During World War I, Pastores was one of the merchant ships chartered to transport U.S. forces across submarine-infested waters to Europe. She departed New York in convoy on 20 December 1917, and her early service was marked by encounters with submarines. Notably, in January 1918, she was 900 miles off the coast of France when a submarine appeared astern; the convoy’s President Grant fired a shot at the submarine, which was not seen again. In August and September of 1918, she again sighted submarines during convoy crossings. After the war, she returned troops to the United States and was decommissioned on 8 October 1919, returning to the United Fruit Company to operate in the West Indies–Central American route. Reacquired by the U.S. Navy in January 1942 during World War II, she was recommissioned as AF-16 on 13 February 1942. As a provision store ship, Pastores supplied food and war materials throughout the Caribbean, including Trinidad, Cuba, and Bermuda. She notably rescued 36 survivors from the U-126 attack on SS Arkansan in June 1942 and allowed Italian tankers to pass after investigation. In late 1943, she transited the Panama Canal to join the Pacific theater, operating from San Francisco and Pearl Harbor, delivering provisions to locations such as Espiritu Santo, Milne Bay, Finschhafen, and Biak. She was the first reefer ship at Leyte Gulf after the invasion, arriving before facilities were fully operational. Pastores continued her logistics role throughout the Pacific, supplying Allied forces across New Guinea, the Philippines, the Palaus, and Solomon Islands until the end of the war. She decommissioned on 14 March 1946, was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, and sold for scrapping in December 1946. Her service record underscores her significance as a vital logistical vessel supporting Allied operations in both World Wars.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.