USS Standard Arrow, a 7794 gross ton oiler, was built at Camden, New Jersey, in 1916 as the U.S. flag commercial tanker Standard Arrow. She was chartered by the Navy after the United States entered World War I and, after fitting out, was placed in commission at Mare Island, California, in August 1917. During the rest of the conflict she made several voyages between the Western Hemisphere and ports in the European war zone, transporting fuel oil and other supplies. This work was interrupted on 4 February 1918, when she collided with the tanker Norman Bridge. Repairs kept her in a U.S. shipyard until March, when she resumed her normal trans-Atlantic logistics operations. USS Standard Arrow completed her last Navy voyage in December 1918 and was turned over to the Shipping Board late in the next month. She was returned to her owner in February 1919.
After some two-and-a-half decades of further commercial operation,
SS Standard Arrow was again acquired by the Navy in April
1944. Commissioned as USS Signal (IX-142), she operated
for the rest of World War II as a station tanker at Majuro and
Ulithi, providing oil to sustain Fleet operations as the war moved
through the central and western Pacific to close in on the Japanese
Home Islands. In February 1946 Signal was placed in the
Maritime Commission's reserve fleet at Mobile, Alabama. The tanker
was stricken from the Navy List a few weeks later and regained
her original name. Standard Arrow was sold for scrapping
in April 1947.
This page features all the views we of USS Standard Arrow (ID # 1532), USS Signal (IX-142) and the civilian tanker Standard Arrow.
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.
In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one view of USS Signal (IX-142). The following list features this image:
The image listed below is NOT in the
Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Signal (IX-142) in the harbor at Ulithi Atoll, 1945. USS Oneida (APA-221) is in the left middle distance, possibly preparing to come alongside Signal. Photographed by Lieutenant Barrett Gallagher, USNR. Nearly bow-on surface view, slightly to starboard, of Signal, which is painted overall dark (probably Camouflage Measure 21) with large white hull numbers on her bow. Oneida is seen from off the starboard bow. Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The image listed in this box is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 8 July 2003