USS Virginia (BB-13) was a United States Navy pre-dreadnought battleship, the lead ship of her class. She was the fifth ship to carry her name. Virginia was laid down in May 1902 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, was launched in April 1904, and was commissioned into the fleet in May 1906. The ship was armed with an offensive battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 19 knots.
USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3) was the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, converted in 1920 from the collier USS Jupiter, and also the US Navy's first turbo-electric-powered ship. Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the Washington Naval Treaty required the cancellation of the partially built Lexington-class battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga, freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga. Langley was named after Samuel Langley, an American aviation pioneer. Following another conversion to a seaplane tender, Langley fought in World War II. On 27 February 1942, while ferrying a cargo of USAAF P-40s to Java, she was attacked by nine twin-engine Japanese bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd naval air flotillas and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts. She was also the only carrier of her class.
USS Kansas (BB-21) was a US Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleship, the fourth of six ships in the class. She was the second ship of the United States Navy named Kansas, but the only one named in honor of the state of Kansas. The ship was launched in August 1905 and commissioned into the fleet in April 1907. Kansas was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and was capable of a top speed of 18 kn.
The first USS Abarenda (AC-13/AG-14) was a collier in the service of the United States Navy during World War I.
USS Cyclops (AC-4) was the second of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy several years before World War I. Named after the Cyclops, a race of giants from Greek mythology, she was the second U.S. naval vessel to bear the name. The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after 4 March 1918 remains the single largest loss of life in the history of the United States Navy not directly involving combat.
USS Sapelo (AO-11) was a Patoka-class fleet replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. Laid down on 3 May 1919 for the United States Shipping Board by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, the ship was launched on 24 December 1919, transferred to the Navy on 30 January 1920, and commissioned on 19 February 1920.
Underway replenishment (UNREP) or replenishment at sea (RAS) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First developed in the early 20th century, it was used extensively by the United States Navy as a logistics support technique in the Pacific theatre of World War II, permitting U.S. carrier task forces to remain at sea indefinitely.
USS Nereus (AC-10) was one of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy before World War I. Named for Nereus, an aquatic deity from Greek mythology, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Nereus was laid down on 4 December 1911, and launched on 26 April 1913 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, and commissioned on 10 September 1913.
USS Ajax (AC-14/AG-15) was a collier in the United States Navy. Originally she retained her previous name of Scindia, and was renamed for the mythical Ajax in 1901. In 1921, she became a receiving ship and was redesignated AC-14. She was reclassified as a seaplane tender and given the hull designator AG-15 in 1924.
USS Leonidas (AD-7) was a destroyer tender, the lone ship in her class, named for Leonidas I, and the second United States naval vessel to bear the name.
The third USS Neptune (AC–8), a collier of the U.S. Navy, was laid down by the Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Md. 23 March 1910; launched 21 January 1911; and placed in service with a merchant crew at Norfolk Navy Yard 20 September 1911.
USS Jason (AC-12/AV-2) was a collier in service with the United States Navy from 1913 to 1932. She was then sold into commercial service and served as SS Jason until she was scrapped in 1948.
USS Brutus, formerly the steamer Peter Jebsen, was a collier in the United States Navy. She was built in 1894 at South Shields-on-Tyne, England, by John Readhead & Sons and was acquired by the U.S. Navy early in 1898 from L. F. Chapman & Company. She was renamed Brutus and commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 27 May 1898.
USS Elokomin (AO-55) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served her country primarily in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean Theatre of Operations, and provided petroleum products where needed to combat ships.
A collier is a bulk cargo ship designed or used to carry coal. Early evidence of coal being transported by sea includes use of coal in London in 1306. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, coal was shipped from the River Tyne to London and other destinations. Other ports also exported coal – for instance the Old Quay in Whitehaven harbour was built in 1634 for the loading of coal. London became highly reliant on the delivery of coal by sea – Samuel Pepys expressed concern in the winter of 1666–67 that war with the Dutch would prevent a fleet of 200 colliers getting through. In 1795, 4,395 cargoes of coal were delivered to London. By 1824, this number had risen to about 7,000; by 1839, it was over 9,000. The trade continued to the end of the twentieth century, with the last cargo of coal leaving the Port of Tyne in February, 2021.
USS Mohave (AT-15) was a Arapaho-class fleet tug of the United States Navy. The unnamed steel-hulled Fleet Tug No.15 was laid down on 16 December 1913 by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company. She was named Mohave in accordance with General Order No. 97 of 9 May 1914, for the Yuman tribe on the Colorado River in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Launched on 20 June 1914; and placed in service at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, on 2 December 1914.
USS Lebanon (AG-2) was a 3,285-long-ton (3,338-metric-ton) collier, which the United States Navy acquired in 1898 from the Philadelphia and Reading RR. Company to provide coal for Navy warships during the Spanish–American War. When the need for her coal was no longer a necessity, Lebanon was assigned various duty such as transporting stores as well as target repair and towing operations.
USS Alcor, AK-259, was a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1952 to 1968. She was originally built in 1944 as SS Rockland Victory, a World War II era Victory ship. She was sold for scrap in 1970.
The second USS Altair (AK-257) was a United States Navy Greenville Victory-class cargo ship in commission from 1952 to 1953. She was converted into a Antares-class general stores issue ship (AKS-32) in 1953 and was in commission as such from 1953 to 1969, seeing extensive service during the Cold War. Prior to her U.S. Navy career, she had operated as the merchant ship SS Aberdeen Victory during the latter stages of World War II.
USS Marcellus was an iron schooner-rigged collier United States Navy Auxiliary ship in service with the United States Navy from 1898 to 1910. She participated in the U.S. Navy's first efforts in coaling warships while underway at sea. She was rammed by a commercial steamer in the early morning hours of 9 August 1910 and sank that afternoon without loss of life.
United States
