USS Saturn (AG-4)

History
Name:	USS Saturn
Builder:	Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, Wilmington, Delaware
Launched:	1890
Acquired:	2 April 1898
Commissioned:	11 April 1898
Decommissioned:	17 March 1922
Reclassified:	AG-4, 17 July 1920
Fate:	Sold, 25 September 1922
General characteristics
Type:	Collier
Displacement:	4,840 long tons (4,918 t)
Length:	297 ft 1 in (90.55 m)
Beam:	40 ft 5 in (12.32 m)
Draft:	23 ft 1 in (7.04 m)
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement:	74
Armament:	1 × 6-pounder gun

Last updated April 01, 2019

The first USS Saturn (AG-4) was an iron collier in the United States Navy.

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.

Wilmington is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It is at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine River, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area. Wilmington was named by Proprietor Thomas Penn after his friend Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, who was prime minister in the reign of George II of Great Britain.

The Spanish–American War was fought between the United States and Spain in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.

Service history

Spanish–American War, 1898

Departing from Brooklyn, New York, on 11 April 1898, Saturn steamed south to Key West. Carrying coal for United States Navy ships operating against Spanish forces in the Caribbean, Saturn called at Cienfuegos, Cuba, at ports in Haiti and Puerto Rico, and at St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, before the war ended. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 1 September 1898 and was decommissioned there on 4 November and placed in reserve.

Key West is an island and city in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent. The city lies at the southernmost end of U.S. Route 1, the longest north-south road in the United States. Key West is the southernmost city in the contiguous United States and the westernmost island connected by highway in the Florida Keys. The island is about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, with a total land mass of 4.2 square miles (11 km²). Duval Street, its main street, is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length in its 14-block-long crossing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean. Key West is about 95 miles (153 km) north of Cuba at their closest points.

Cienfuegos, capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km (160 mi) from Havana and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur. Cienfuegos literally translates to "one hundred fires"—cien meaning "one hundred", fuegos meaning "fires".

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometres (42,800 sq mi). The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean, with an area of 105,006 square kilometres (40,543 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants.

Asiatic Squadron, 1900–1903

Recommissioned on 15 August 1900, Saturn departed from Norfolk on that day to join the Asiatic Squadron. Visiting Gibraltar, Port Said, Aden, and Singapore, Saturn arrived at Cavite, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on 10 October 1900. The collier, based at Philippine ports, operated in East Asian waters into 1903, but usually was stationed for months at a time at Chefoo and Woosung, China; Nagasaki, Japan; and Hong Kong. Detached on 5 March 1903 from the Asiatic Fleet, the ship arrived at Bremerton, Washington, on 25 April and was decommissioned there on 30 June 1903 and placed in reserve.

The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century. It was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded. Vessels of the squadron were primarily involved in matters relating to American commerce with China and Japan, though it participated in several conflicts over 34 years of service until becoming the Asiatic Fleet in 1902.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km² (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to over 30,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians. It shares a maritime border with Morocco.

Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 kilometres (19 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787 (2010). The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal.

Pacific Fleet, 1903–1916

Saturn was placed in service on 2 December 1903 on a merchant basis and attached to the Pacific Squadron the same day. She operated on the United States west coast, from San Diego, California to Elaine, Washington, into 1908. She made one voyage to Kiska and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, during mid-1904, and another to Honolulu and Midway Island in January 1906, carrying coal for shore facilities. She also cruised in Mexican waters during January, April, July, and August 1907, supplying ships of the fleet.

The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local ports of call in the Hawaiian Islands and towns on the Pacific Coast. Throughout the history of the Pacific Squadron, American ships fought against several enemies. Over one-half of the United States Navy would be sent to join the Pacific Squadron during the Mexican–American War. During the American Civil War, the squadron was reduced in size when its vessels were reassigned to Atlantic duty. When the Civil War was over, the squadron was reinforced again until being disbanded just after the turn of the 20th century.

Honolulu State capital city in Hawaii, United States

Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi. It is an unincorporated part of and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu along the southeast coast of the island of Oʻahu. The city is the main gateway to Hawaiʻi and a major portal into the United States. The city is also a major hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine, and traditions.

Saturn was assigned to the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla on 1 December 1908. She cruised along the southern California and Mexican coast into 1911, returning to Puget Sound Navy Yard on 22 August 1911. Saturn was placed out of service there on 30 September and returned to the Reserve Force.

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Placed in service again on 3 August 1912, Saturn returned to duty with the Pacific Fleet. She operated out of California, Washington, and Mexican ports supporting fleet activities until placed in reserve on 31 July 1913 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Saturn was placed in service on 4 April 1914 and deployed to Mexican waters to protect United States citizens while the Mexican political situation deteriorated. Saturn spent much of 1914 anchored at Mazatlán, Manzanillo, and La Paz, Mexico, and returned to United States waters early in the following year. The collier remained in service in waters from Mexico to Washington into September 1916.

Alaska, 1916–1920

Saturn departed Bremerton on 2 September 1916 for Sitka, Alaska, to operate as a tender and relay ship for radio communication between Alaska and bases on the United States west coast. She cruised extensively in waters of the North Pacific and was placed in full commission on 4 April 1917 upon United States entry into World War I. She called frequently at Seward, Sitka, Tatoosh, Ketchikan, and Dutch Harbor, insuring continuous communications between the continental United States and the Alaska Territory.

During November 1918, Saturn was assigned special duty carrying coal and supplies to the United States Expeditionary Force at Vladivostok, Russia, during the Russian Civil War and large-scale Japanese intervention. She departed Vladivostok on 12 January 1919 and proceeded homeward via Olongapo, Philippine Islands; Guam; and Pearl Harbor, arriving on 25 February at Mare Island Navy Yard. Saturn resumed duty as a communications link between Alaska and the continental United States, with occasional additional duty as a radio repair ship. She was classified AG-4 as a miscellaneous auxiliary on 17 July 1920.

Decommissioning and sale

Relieved of her duty at the end of 1921, she departed Mare Island on 19 January 1922, transited the Panama Canal, and reached League Island, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 16 February. Decommissioned on 17 March 1922, Saturn was sold on 25 September 1922 to Joseph G. Hitner of Philadelphia, and scrapped.

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References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Saturn at NavSource Naval History
Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: USS Saturn

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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History


Name:	USS Saturn
Builder:	Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, Wilmington, Delaware
Launched:	1890
Acquired:	2 April 1898
Commissioned:	11 April 1898
Decommissioned:	17 March 1922
Reclassified:	AG-4, 17 July 1920
Fate:	Sold, 25 September 1922
General characteristics
Type:	Collier
Displacement:	4,840 long tons (4,918 t)
Length:	297 ft 1 in (90.55 m)
Beam:	40 ft 5 in (12.32 m)
Draft:	23 ft 1 in (7.04 m)
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement:	74
Armament:	1 × 6-pounder gun