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Photo # NH 52365:  USS Jupiter off the Mare Island Navy Yard, 16 October 1913

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3), 1913-1920.
Became USS Langley (CV-1, later AV-3) in 1920.

USS Jupiter, a 19,360-ton collier (originally classified as a "Fuel Ship") built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, was commissioned in April 1913. The Navy's first surface ship propelled by electric motors, she was an engineering prototype for the turbo-electric propulsion system widely used in Navy capital ships built during the later "Teens" and the 1920s. Jupiter provided transportation and coal carrying services for the Pacific fleet until October 1914, when she transited the Panama Canal to begin operations in the Atlantic. During the First World War, she carried cargo to Europe and supplied coal to combat and logistics forces on both sides of the Atlantic. Jupiter decommissioned in March 1920 to began conversion to an aircraft carrier. Renamed Langley in April 1920 and designated CV-1 when the Navy implemented its hull number system in July 1920, she recommissioned two years later as the first ship in the Navy's seagoing air fleet.

This page features views concerning USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3).

For views of this ship after her conversion to an aircraft carrier, see:

  • Langley (CV-1, later AV-3).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 52365

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 16 October 1913.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 108KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 52366

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Anchored off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 13 April 1914.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 106KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92199

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Photographed circa 1916-17 by Wilkinson.

    Collection of Thomas P. Naughton, 1973.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 470 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106368

    USS Jupiter
    (Fuel Ship # 3)

    Crew members on deck, examining damage received in collision with an Italian barque. Photo is labeled "Lynnhaven Rhodes, Virginia, Oct. 17, 1916".
    The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 490 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106702

    USS Jupiter
    (Fuel Ship # 3)

    Sailors on deck as the ship steams through heavy seas, circa the later 1910s.
    Note the inscription "seasick" near the image's lower middle right edge.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 63KB; 900 x 550 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106703

    USS Jupiter
    (Fuel Ship # 3)

    Liberty party from the ship, on board a boat in a European port, circa 1918-1919.
    The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 106KB; 900 x 560 pixels

     


    The following photographs show Jupiter while she was under construction:

    Photo #: NH 94958

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Ready for launching, at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 August 1912.

    Courtesy of Jack Howland, 1983.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 108KB; 510 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 85940

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Sliding down the building ways, during her launching at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 August 1912.
    The original was a halftone photograph, printed on a postal card.

    Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN(MSC), 1977.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 122KB; 540 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 81339

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 December 1912.
    USS South Dakota (Armored Cruiser # 9) is in the background, at left.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69825

    USS Jupiter (Fuel Ship # 3)


    Fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 January 1913.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     


    Additional image: Photo # NH 106696, a view of USS Michigan (Battleship # 27) coaling, shows a collier in the background that is either USS Jupiter or her sister, USS Neptune (Fuel Ship # 8).


    For views of this ship after her conversion to an aircraft carrier, see:

  • Langley (CV-1, later AV-3).


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 6 February 2000
    New image added and text updated 18 February 2009