USS Midway (AG-41)

USS Midway (AG-41) – also known as USS Panay (AG-41) -- was a commercial cargo ship leased by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was used by the Navy as a cargo ship and as a troop transport in the North Pacific Ocean. She was returned to her owner at war’s end.

Constructed in Brooklyn
The first ship to be named Midway by the Navy, she was built in 1921 as Oritani by Todd Shipyards Corporation, Brooklyn, New York, and renamed Tyee in 1939; was acquired by the Navy on a bareboat charter through the War Shipping Administration (WSA) from Alaska Transportation Company, Seattle, Washington; and commissioned at Puget Sound Navy Yard 10 April 1942.

World War II service
Classified as general auxiliary, Midway operated along the Pacific coast between ports of the Northwestern United States and American bases in Alaska and the Aleutians. In January 1943 she steamed to Pearl Harbor and shuttled troops, provisions and equipment between the islands of the central Pacific.

Renamed Panay
Renamed Panay 3 April 1943 to allow the name to be used for a new aircraft carrier, she resumed the Alaskan run in the summer and continued this vital service to military and naval units in the far north through the end of the war.

Post-war decommissioning
Panay was decommissioned 24 May 1946 and was returned to her owner.