High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Camel (IX-133), an Armadillo-class tanker, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the camel, a ruminant found in Asia and Africa. She was launched 31 October 1943 as William H. Carruth by California Shipbuilding Corporation, in Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract sponsored by Mrs. J. Low, was acquired by the Navy 22 November 1943, and commissioned the same day, Lieutenant D. Dunham, Jr., USNR, in command.