USS Boreas (AF-8) was an acquired by the United States Navy after World War I. She served with distinction during World War II, supplying food and other supplies to ships and installations in the combat zones of the Pacific Theater. Early career Boreas was built for the United States Shipping Board as SS Yaquina in 1919 at Oakland, California, by the Moore Shipbuilding Company; renamed Boreas on 29 October 1921; acquired by the Navy on 6 December 1921 and laid up in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; commissioned in ordinary on 6 August 1940; towed to the Todd-Robbins Dry Dock and Repair Co. in Brooklyn, New York, for reactivation; and placed in full commission on 24 March 1941. In May 1941, after commissioning, The USS Boreas proceeded to the Chesapeake Bay-Hampton Roads area for calibration, shakedown and her first load. At that time there was a definite shortage of ships in the United States Navy and considerable construction work was in progress at various U.S. Naval bases. As a result, all the ship loads, with the exception of No. 2 load, were loaded with construction equipment and material. Finally after a two- or three-day delay, the cargo for No. 2 Load had arrived – frozen turkeys from the state of Washington. The USS Boreas started south on her first trip. A brief stop was made at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, then through the Panama Canal, and finally docking in San Diego in California for another brief stop. Afterword, the USS Boreas set a course for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Upon her arrival, all construction equipment and material was unloaded and the USS Boreas then returned to San Diego. The total duration of the voyage took 57 days (9,337 miles). For the next few months, the USS Boreas operated as a shuttle service between these ports on the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii. World War II At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the USS Boreas was in San Francisco. She would be the first provisions ship to arrive at the stricken naval base in Hawaii after the attack. The ship made ten round-trips between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor in 1942 hauling goods and material to rebuild and resupply the strategic naval base. On 26 December 1942, Boreas departed San Francisco, bound for Nouméa, New Caledonia, and Espiritu Santo, to begin supplying advanced bases.