Rachis Rachis Rachis is a biological term for a main axis or "shaft" (from the Greek "ράχις, backbone, spine"). In vertebrates a "rachis" can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the "rachis" usually forms the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column. "Rachis" can also mean the central shaft of pennaceous feathers. In the gonad of the invertebrate nematode "C. elegans", a "rachis" is the central cell-free core or axis of the gonadal arm of both adult males and hermaphrodites where the germ cells have
USS Calamus (AOG-25) USS Calamus (AOG-25) USS "Calamus" (AOG-25) was a "Mettawee"-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations. "Calamus" was launched 4 May 1944 by East Coast Shipyard, Inc., Bayonne, New Jersey, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. A. H. Moore; transferred to the Navy 7 July 1944; and commissioned the same day, Lieutenant W. Hord, USCGR, in command. "Calamus" sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, 13 September 1944, bound for Pearl Harbor and Ulithi, where she arrived in mid-December and began her work as