High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Shasta (AE-6), an ammunition ship, was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 125) on 12 August 1940 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Fla., initially as a C2 type cargo ship. She was acquired by the Navy on 16 April 1941 and launched on 9 July 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Spessard L. Holland. She was commissioned on 20 January 1942 with Capt. Francis A. Smith in command. She was named after Mount Shasta, a volcano in the Cascade Range in northern California, USA.