USS Lassen (AE-3) was built as MS Shooting Star under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract, was delivered to the U.S. Navy after sea trials, and became an ammunition cargo ship during World War II.

The ship arrived back at San Francisco on 23 January 1943 for repairs, the installation of radar equipment, and an upgrade in her air-defense armament.

[2] On 18 May 1943, the Lassen arrived at Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides, to resume dispensing war ammunition to the Navy fleet in the South Pacific.

An overhaul period in a drydock was a prelude to a more extensive stay in the war zone supplying the American warships that were battling the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[2] As a part of Vice-Admiral W. L. Calhoun's 7th Force, Pacific Fleet, the ammunition ship arrived at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 2 February 1944.

The Lassen exhibited this new ability and mobility by accompanying aircraft carrier Task Group 50.8 in raids from 13 March to 14 June 1945, while supporting the conquest of Okinawa campaign.

On 25 October, she departed the former war zone for the United States, via Eniwetok Atoll, where she embarked 112 passengers for their transportation to the West Coast.