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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Saturn (AF-40)
ex
 USS Saturn (AK-49) (1942 - 1944)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Kilo - Oscar
 NXKO
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe, Africa, Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Saturn Class Stores Ship:
  • Built in 1939 at Bremer Vulcan, Vegesach, Germany, as the Hamburg-American freighter, SS Arauca
  • Interned at Port Everglades, FL., in 1939
  • Acquired by US Navy from the Maritime Commission, 20 April 1942
  • Commissioned the same day as Cargo Ship, USS Saturn (AK-49), 20 April 1942, CDR. Charles M. Furlow in command
  • Converted to a Stores Ship at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA. in April 1944 and redesignated Stores Ship (AF-40), 10 April 1944
  • During World War II USS Saturn was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Invasion of southern France, 15 August to 25 September 1944

  • Decommissioned, 23 July 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 25 July 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 August 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold to Isaac Varela, Castellon de la Plana, Spain, 12 September 1972 for scrapping
  • USS Saturn received one battle star for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,088 t.
    Length 423'
    Beam 55' 5"
    Draft 24'
    Speed 17.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 16
    Enlisted 191
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    one single 40mm AA gun mount
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,575 Bbls
    Diesel 1,390 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Allgemeiner Electrizitacts-Gesellachatf turbine
    two La Mont boilers, 500psi 800°
    Ship's Service Generators
    three 60Kw 120V D.C.
    two 140Kw 380V A.C.
    two 350Kw 450V A.C.
    single propeller, 5,600shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merchant Service
    Saturn 302k The German cargo ship SS Arauca owned by Hamburg-America Line, Hamburg (Germany), underway on Weser River, Germany during her builders trials and handover in 1939. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    War Shipping Administration
    Saturn
    NH 105638    		 57k The German cargo ship SS Arauca while interned at Port Everglades, FL. after being chased into port there by the British light cruiser HMS Orion in December 1939. The original images are printed on post card stock.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photos # NH 105638 & NH 105637, donation of CAPT. Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008.    		 Robert Hurst
    Saturn
    NH 105637    		 78k
    Saturn
    NH 105638    		 94k The German cargo ship SS Arauca being towed out of Port Everglades, FL., 19 August 1941, headed for overhaul at Mobile, AL. She had been seized by the United States for military service and flies the American flag aft.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photos # NH 105639, donation of CAPT. Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Saturn (AK-49)
    Saturn 32k
    Namesake
    Roman statute, from the Bardo National Museum, Tunis.
    Saturn was a god in ancient Roman religion, and a character in Roman mythology. He was described as a god of generation, dissolution, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological reign was depicted as a Golden Age of plenty and peace. (Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Saturn 89k USS Saturn (AK-49) at Charleston, S.C., 26 June 1942, while receiving extensive repairs there to her complex German propulsion plant. The Navy lighter YC-734 is alongside.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # Unknown a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Saturn 98k USS Saturn (AK-49) at the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard, 5 August 1942, probably on a post-repair trial trip.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. 19-N-31985, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Saturn 94k USS Saturn (AK-49) underway near Norfolk Navy Yard, 7 July 1943.
    US. National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo #. 19-N-51966 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Saturn 88k USS Saturn (AK-49) underway near Norfolk Navy Yard, 2 January 1944 following modifications. The two after 3"/50 guns were replaced with 20mm guns on a raised platform because of blast interference between the 3" guns and the 5" gun on the stern. The 5" gun was also upgraded from a 5"/51 low angle to a 5"/38 dual purpose gun.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-60198 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    USS Saturn (AF-40)
    Saturn 48k USS Saturn (AF-40) underway, probably immediately after completing conversion to a store ship.
    US Navy photo # NH 99294 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Saturn 43k USS Saturn (AF-40) at anchor shortly after conversion to a store ship, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Saturn 78k USS Saturn (AF-40) re-provisions USS Macon (CA-132), during operations off the U.S. East Coast, circa late April or early May 1946. Photo was released by Macon's Commanding Officer on 8 May 1946.
    US Navy photo # NH 99296 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Saturn 19k USS Saturn (AF-40) moored pierside in Bermuda, June 1946. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Saturn 60k
    Saturn 28k
    Hesperia 78k USS Saturn (AF-40) and an unidentified Icebreaker are in the left background of this photo of USS Hesperia (AKS-13) off Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 26 April 1945.
    US Navy photo # NH 94524 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Charles N. Dragonette.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Saturn 160k USS Saturn (AF-40) transfers frozen provisions to USS Midway (CVB-41), during operations off th U.S. East Coast in the spring of 1946.
    US Navy photo # NH 99295 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Saturn (AK-49 / AF-40)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Furlow Jr., Charles Marvin :RADM20 April 1942 - ?
    02CDR. Marshall Jr., Thomas A.15 December 1943 - 4 December 1944
    03LCDR. Svendsen, Raymond Victor4 December 1944 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 20 December 2019