USS Alhena (AKA-9) was an attack cargo ship named after Alhena, a star in the constellation Gemini. She served as a commissioned ship for 5 years and 4 months. Laid down as Robin Kettering under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 74) on 19 June 1940 at Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Maryland, by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 18 January 1941; sponsored by Mrs. William Sanford Lewis; purchased by the Navy on 31 May 1941 from the Robin Line of the Seas Shipping Co., Inc., of New York City; commissioned as Alhena (AK-26) at Hoboken, N.J., on 15 June 1941, Comdr. Charles B. Hunt in command.