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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE
COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4).
Previously S.S. Saturn (American Freighter, 1890)
S.S. Saturn, a 2268 gross ton (6220 tons displacement)
freighter, was built in 1890 at Wilmington, Delaware for the Boston
Towboat Co. The steamer was purchased by the U.S. Navy in April
1898 for service as a collier during the Spanish-American
War. Placed in commission at that time as USS Saturn,
she immediately departed New York with a cargo of coal for distribution
to the ships operating off Cuba, and also visited ports in Haiti,
Puerto Rico, and the Danish West Indies before the end of the
war. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, in September 1898 and
was decommissioned there in November 1898.
Saturn was recommissioned in August 1900 and served
on the Asiatic Station until she was decommissioned at Bremerton,
Washington, in June 1903. In December 1903 the collier was placed
in service and, until U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917,
operated as a "U.S. Navy Auxiliary" with a civilian
crew. During this period she was mainly employed off the U.S.
West Coast but also made voyages to Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico.
Saturn commenced a tour of duty with the Pacific Torpedo
Flotilla in December 1908 and was out of service between September
1911 and August 1912 and between July 1913 and April 1914.
In September 1916 Saturn began special duty as a tender
and relay ship for radio communications between Alaska and the
western United States. During the next year and a half she cruised
extensively in the Northern Pacific, calling frequently at Seward,
Sitka, Ketchikan and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Tatoosh Island,
Washington. In November 1918 she carried coal and supplies to
the United States Expeditionary Force at Vladivostok, Russia.
She also transported the Vladivostok Radio Expedition, a largely
civilian working party that built a naval radio station on an
island in Vladivostok harbor. Returning to the U.S. West Coast
in February 1919, Saturn resumed duty as a communications
link for Alaska. She was classified a miscellaneous auxiliary
(designated AG-4) in July 1920, was decommissioned in March 1922
and sold for scrapping in September 1922.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS
Saturn and S.S. Saturn.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 44072
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, in August 1900.
The tug USS Sioux (1898-1921) is alongside Saturn's
port quarter.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 92198
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
In a Pacific Coast harbor, before World War I.
The original photograph is printed on post card ("AZO")
stock.
Collection of Thomas P. Naughton, 1973.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 107086
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
Leaving Sitka, Alaska, 1917.
The original photo is printed on "AZO" post card stock. The following hand-written inscription is on the card's reverse: "Oct. 15, 1917. U.S.S. Saturn. It is just leaving the Radio station dock for San Francisco. I am not on it, but am on the dock in the background. She rolls so much that somtimes that long row of portholes is underwater. She is something over 300 feet long and 1500 horsepower. Frank."
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 74 KB; 575 x 925 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 84672
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
At Kodiak, Alaska, in 1919.
For much of the time between 1916 and 1921 Saturn was
used to maintain communications between the Alaska Territory
and the continental United States.
Courtesy Donald M. McPherson, 1976.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 44KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 79052
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
Near Vladivostok, Russia, unloading equipment for the Naval Radio
Station, Vladivostok, over the ice in January 1919.
Note the Ford car in use for towing sleds. The radio station
was built on Russkiy Island in Vladivostok harbor.
Donation of William W. Wilson, 1973.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 79053
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
Near Vladivostok, Russia, unloading equipment for the Naval Radio
Station, Vladivostok, over the ice in January 1919.
The supplies were hauled ashore on sleds using a long line drawn
by a truck ashore. The radio station was built on Russkiy Island
in Vladivostok harbor.
Donation of William W. Wilson, 1973.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 41637
USS Saturn (1898-1922, later AG-4)
Unloading material in a Far East port, circa 1918-1919.
Between late 1918 and mid-1919 Saturn made a voyage to
Vladivostok, Russia, carrying coal, supplies, and a team that
built a naval radio station there. This photo may have been taken
during one of her brief stops in Japan in December 1918 or June
1919. The gun on the right is one of the two 3"/50 weapons
fitted forward of the bridge during World War I; she also received
a 6"/50 gun aft.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 63KB; 740 x 460 pixels |
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USS Saturn is visible to the left of the ship that
is the primary subject of the following photograph:
Photo #: NH 71584
USS Supply (1898-1921)
At the Mare Island, California, Navy Yard circa 1921.
The ship is not flying a jack flag on the bow and appears to
be out of commission. USS Saturn (AG-4) is on the left.
The two large ships astern may be USS Vermont (BB-20)
and Brooklyn (CA-3).
Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1970.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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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".
Return to Naval
History and Heritage Command home page.
Page made 11 October 1998
New image added 26 November 2010