The ship was laid down as Mormacgull under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 30) on 12 January 1939 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Hull 179; launched on 28 August 1939; sponsored by Miss Barbara Ann Moore; delivered 13 October 1939 to owner/operator Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc.; purchased by the Navy on 31 May 1941; renamed Alcyone and designated AK-24 on 3 June 1941; converted for naval service by the Boston Navy Yard; and placed in commission on 15 June 1941, Comdr.

Upon the completion of this task, she left Icelandic waters on 5 October, sailed southwest-ward across the Atlantic, and arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 13th.

After one month of voyage repairs, the ship moved, via Norfolk, Virginia, to New York City to take on cargo and sailed on 28 November for the Caribbean.

Among her ports of call during the cruise were Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; Jamaica; San Juan and Vieques, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Antigua; and Trinidad before she arrived back at New York on 27 December.

Although three consorts fell victim to torpedo attacks, Alcyone completed her trip unscathed and arrived back at Charleston on 12 April where she underwent availability.

Alcyone was assigned to the Naval Transportation Service on 1 June and set sail from Norfolk on the 10th in a convoy bound for New Zealand with troops and equipment of the 1st Marine Division which would land on Guadalcanal early in August.

Alcyone sailed independently from Auckland on 31 July and proceeded to Nouméa, New Caledonia, and Espiritu Santo to distribute her cargo.

Alcyone retransited the Panama Canal on 2 March, arrived at the Charleston Navy Yard on the 9th, and underwent repairs for a month before sailing to Norfolk in mid-April.

Soon after reaching Norfolk, Alcyone began a period of training exercises in the Chesapeake Bay which lasted until early June.

Alcyone got underway on 5 July; arrived off Scoglitti, Sicily, five days later; and began discharging her cargo despite rough seas and frequent enemy air harassment.

She landed her equipment and troops with the loss of only a few small boats, left the area on the 13th, and arrived back at Oran on 16 July.

Enemy shore fire and dangerous coral reefs somewhat delayed her operations, and Alcyone remained in the area until mid-February.

A series of amphibious landing exercises followed the completion of the yard work, and Alcyone left the West Coast on 18 April, bound for Hawaii.

After approximately a month of preparations and training, she sailed on 14 October as a member of TG 79.2, which was scheduled to begin the liberation of the Philippine Islands.

Upon their completion, the ships returned to Manus for final loadout prior to the invasion of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines.

The task of unloading her cargo was made more difficult by rough seas, Japanese suicide boat attacks, and enemy air raids.

During this yard period, her kingposts were replaced by quadruped masts, her troop berths were removed, and temporary cargo storage cages were installed.

After pausing there briefly on 9 July, she got underway to rendezvous with logistic support ships provisioning the warships of the Fast Carrier Task Force in waters off the Japanese home islands.

The ship was sold to the Johnson Line on 17 March 1947, and refitted for service as the merchant vessel Star Alcyone, and later scrapped in 1969.