High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Benevolence (AH-13) was built as SS Marine Lion in 1944 by Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pa., under a Maritime Commission contract. 11,141 tons. 520 x 71.6 x 24. 24 knots. Sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Unter; transferred to the Navy 31 July 1944; converted to a hospital ship by Todd-Erie Basin Shipyard, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.; and commissioned 12 May 1945. CAPT C. C. Laws in command.