USS Venus (AK-135) was a in the service of the United States Navy in World War II. Originally liberty ship SS William Williams, named after William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, it was taken over by the Navy after being damaged in a torpedo attack and renamed after the planet Venus. It was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name. Construction William Williams was laid down on 5 July 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 263, by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California; launched on 21 August; sponsored by Mrs. Paul S. Marrin; was delivered to her owners, the Isthmian Steamship Company, on 8 September; and operated in the Pacific for the remainder of 1942 and into 1943. Merchant history On 2 May 1943, while near Suva, Fiji Islands, William Williams was torpedoed by the , commanded by Lt. Takaichi Kinashi who, while commanding this I-boat, had torpedoed the aircraft carrier , battleship , and the destroyer , with the same spread of torpedoes off Guadalcanal on 15 September 1942. Kinashi chose not to finish off the crippled Liberty ship, however, and cleared the area. William Williams, meanwhile, abandoned by her crew, remained afloat though heavily damaged. At the time she was torpedoed, she was carrying lumber. Any other time, she would have been carrying munitions and surely would have been lost. With quick thinking by Captain Freeman, he ordered an immediate abandonment of the ship by most of her crew but Captain Freeman stayed behind with a small crew to put out the fires. Captain Freeman also ordered the radio operator, "Sparks" as they were called, to send out a distress signal that they were sinking rapidly with the hope that the Japanese ship would intercept the message. Believing the ship would blow from a cargo of munitions or believing that the ship was sinking and seeing the crew so hastily leave the ship, the Japanese vessel cleared the area believing a fatal blow had been struck. After the fires were put out, the crew returned and William Williams built steam to continue to port. A Navy tug was sent out to pull her in but if need be, the William Williams could have made it on her own. Captain Freeman received a commendation for saving William Williams. Service history William Williams was towed to Fiji and thence