USS Aries (AK-51) (1918–1952) was a United States Navy cargo ship built as Lake Geneva under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract in 1918 at Duluth, Minnesota, by the McDougall Duluth Shipbuilding Company, to augment American logistics capability during World War I. The freighter was delivered to the Navy at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 21 September 1918 and was placed in commission the following day for service in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. Aries was named for the constellation. After fitting out, the freighter sailed for France late in October and arrived at St. Nazaire on 11 November, the day Germany signed the armistice ending the fighting of World War I. Lake Geneva was then assigned to European waters. Based at Cardiff, Wales, she carried coal from that port and from Belfast, Ireland, to French ports. After continuing this duty through the spring of 1919, she sailed for Charleston, South Carolina, carrying some 1,500 tons of Army ordnance material. However, while en route to that port, she was diverted to Newport News, Virginia, where she arrived on 12 July. Between the wars After discharging her cargo, Lake Geneva was slated for demobilization. She was decommissioned on 17 July 1919 and then returned to the USSB, in whose hands she remained until the mid-1920s. She was then sold to the Bison Steam Ship Company, of Tonawanda, New York, and renamed John J. O'Hagan in honor of the manager of the firm which had purchased her. She operated out of Buffalo, New York carrying coal and iron ore on the Great Lakes. World War II service Shortly before the United States entered World War II, the Federal Government repurchased the ship. She was transferred from the Maritime Commission to the US Navy on 22 September 1941. Renamed Manomet on 15 October 1941 and designated AG-37, the freighter was prepared for naval service at East Boston, Massachusetts, by the General Ship and Engine Works. During this work, Manomet was renamed Aries on 7 January 1942 and simultaneously re-designated AK-51. She was delivered on 23 May 1942 to the Marine Lines of New York City, which operated her on a contract basis for the Naval Transportation Service until early July. Returned to Navy custody on 11 July 1942, Aries was placed in commission on 18 July 1942 at the Bethlehem Steel Company in Brooklyn, New York and Lieutenant Philip S. Deane, Jr., USNR,