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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Leonidas (AD-7)
ex
 USS Leonidas (Survey Ship) (1914 - 1917)
 USS Leonidas (Collier) (1898 - 1914)

International Radio Call Sign, 1912:
Nan - Jig - Able
 NJA
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Spanish Campaign Medal - World War I Victory Medal (with Patrol clasp)
  • Built in 1897-98 as SS Elizabeth Holland by S. P. Austin & Sons, Ltd., Sunderland, Great Britain
  • Purchased by the Navy, 16 April 1898, at London
  • Commissioned USS Leonidas, 21 May 1898, at New York as a Collier, CDR. William I. Moore in command
  • Decommissioned, 27 December 1898, at League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Recommissioned, 8 November 1900
  • Decommissioned, 15 February 1909, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.
  • Recommissioned, 11 June 1909
  • Decommissioned, 3 May 1912, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.
  • Recommissioned, 1 April 1914, as a Survey Ship
  • Converted to a Sub Chaser/Destroyer Tender, 30 October 1917
  • Designated (AD-7), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned and Struck from the Naval Register, 28 November 1921 at Norfolk, VA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for commercial operations, 24 March 1923, to Ammunition Products Corp., Washington, D.C., named reverted to SS Elizabeth Holland, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,264 t.
    Length 264' 3"
    Beam 39' 3"
    Draft 21'
    Speed 9.5 kts.
    Complement (Collier) 52
    Armament two 3-pdrs
    Propulsion system unknown
    . courtesy of George Breed, University Club, Philadelphia.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Leonidas 130k
    Namesake
    Leonidas I (died 11 August 480 BC) was a warrior king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line; a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles and Cadmus. He was the husband of Gorgo, the daughter of Cleomenes I of Sparta. Leonidas had a notable participation in the Second Persian War, where he led the allied Greek forces to a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) while attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army; he entered myth as the so-called leader of the 300 Spartans. (Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Leonidas 74k USS Leonidas at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, NY, 29 May 1898.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 51304    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Leonidas 163k USS Leonidas at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, NY, in 1904. Other ships are unidentified.
    Library of Congress, Photo No. LC-D4-21816    		 Mike Green
    Leonidas 265k USS Leonidas arriving, location and date unknown, with mast of USS Maine. The mast would become a part of the USS Maine Monument in Arlington National Cemetery.
    Photo by Harris & Ewing, photographer, Created/Published: 1911.
    Library of Congress Call Number: LC-H261- 788 [P&P]    		 David Wright
    Leonidas 85k USS Leonidas under way, 22 April 1914, while serving as a survey ship.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 51304    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Leonidas 94k USS Leonidas underway while serving as a surveying ship between 1914 and 1917.
    US National Archives, RG-19-N box 20., Photo # 14252, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Leonidas 51k USS Leonidas at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., circa September 1917. She has recently had a gun installed on her forecastle. Note the sentry at left, mobile crane in the center and steam launch on a cradle at right. This image is cropped from US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #: NH 51135.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 51135-A    		 Tony Cowart
    Leonidas 104k USS Leonidas at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., circa September 1917. Leonidas, just back from the Caribbean, has surveying launches in her well deck and a 3" gun in a shield on her forecastle. The newly-commissioned submarine USS L-8 (No. 48) is in drydock in the foreground.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 51135 (detail), courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Leonidas 69k USS Leonidas tending submarine chasers and other patrol craft in 1918, probably at U.S. Naval Base 25, Corfu, Greece.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73480, courtesy of William H. Davis, 1981.     		Tony Cowart
    Leonidas 243k USS Leonidas at U.S. Naval Base 25, Corfu, Greece, in 1918. Also present are twenty-one submarine chasers and a small tanker (perhaps the French Mazout).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42570     		Tony Cowart
    Leonidas 48k USS Leonidas at anchor date and location unknown. Photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919", Courtesy, LT. H. Reuterdahl, USNRF. US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS Leonidas (AD-7)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Moore, William Irwin, USN (USNA 1866)21 May 1898 - 27 December 1898
     Decommissioned27 December 1898 - 8 November 1900
    02MASTER, Whorley, George (Naval Auxiliary Service)10 July 1906 - 15 May 1907
    03MASTER, Rodgers, Joseph Thomas (Naval Auxiliary Service)15 May 1907 - 29 November 1907
    04LCDR. Bierer, Bion Barnett, USN (USNA 1891)29 November 1907 - 15 February 1909
     Decommissioned15 February 1909 - 11 June 1909
     Decommissioned3 May 1912 - 1 April 1914
    05CDR. Nelson, Charles Preston, USN (USNA 1898) :RADM1 April 1914 - 30 June 1914
    06LCDR. Falconer, Walter Maxwell, USN Ret. (USNA 1897)30 June 1914 - 3 December 1914
    07LCDR. Cocke, Herbert Claiborne, USN (USNA 1900)3 December 1914 - 28 March 1916
    08LCDR. Church, John Gaylord, USN (USNA 1900)28 March 1916 - 10 August 1916
    09LCDR. Hill, Owen, USN10 August 1916 - 7 January 1918
    10CAPT. Nelson, Charles Preston, USN (USNA 1898)7 January 1918 - 5 July 1921
    11LT. Anderson, Nils, USN5 July 1921 - 28 November 1921
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 10 April 2020