USS Wrangell (AE-12) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1375) as SS Midnight during February 1944 at Wilmington, North Carolina, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company; launched on 14 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. G. T. Cambell; delivered to the Navy, incomplete, on 28 May 1944; moved to Hampton Roads; converted to an ammunition ship by the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; and commissioned on 10 October 1944 at the Norfolk Navy Yard. Service history World War II, 1944–1945 Following shakedown in Hampton Roads, Wrangell sailed on 13 November for the Naval Ammunition Depot, Earle, New Jersey, to load ammunition. Escorted by the destroyer , she stood out to sea on the last day of the month and headed for the Panama Canal. The ammunition ship transited the isthmian waterway on 7 December; and, although initially ordered to proceed directly to the Marshall Islands, was rerouted to Hawaii. Wrangell arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 December, but got underway again on Christmas Eve, bound for the Marshalls. Arriving at Eniwetok on the last day of 1944, the ammunition ship joined a Ulithi-bound convoy (number 31) that day and pushed on for the Carolines. Wrangell dropped anchor in Ulithi Lagoon on 5 January and reported for duty to Commander, Service Squadron 10. Over the next five months, Wrangell operated from Ulithi supporting the Fleet's operations against Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Japanese home islands. In those months, she transferred over, 10,000 tons of all types of ammunition to combatant ships steaming alongside while underway and would frequently serve two ships at a time: heavy ships (battleships, aircraft carriers, and heavy cruisers) alongside to port and light units (light cruisers and destroyers) alongside to starboard. On her first operation, Wrangell reached Iwo Jima on 22 February and supplied bombardment forces there with ammunition over the next six days until she retired from the area on the 28th. The nature of operations at Iwo, coupled with the deep waters relatively close inshore, prevented the ship's anchoring and necessitated conducting cargo operations while either drifting or underway at slow speed. After retiring from Iwo Jima on 28 February, Wrangell proceeded to the Marianas and arrived at Saipan on 3 March. From that island, she proceeded independently to Ulithi where she anchored three days later. On the 13th, the ammunition ship sortied with Task Group (TG) 58.8 and supported Task Force