USS Saturn, a 5088-ton cargo ship, was built in 1939 at Vegesach, Germany, as the German commercial freighter Arauca. She was interned at Port Everglades, Florida, when World War II began 1939 and was seized by the U.S. Government in 1941. Turned over to the Navy in April 1942, she was placed in commission as USS Saturn (AK-49) and for the next two years was employed carrying cargo from East Coast ports to Newfoundland and the Caribbean. The ship also made one trans-Atlantic voyage to England in the fall of 1943.
In April 1944 Saturn was reclassified as a store ship and given the designation AF-40. Following conversion work at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, in September 1944 she resumed operations with a voyage to the Mediterranean. During the rest of her active career Saturn made trips to Iceland, the Caribbean and along the Atlantic Coast, carrying foodstuffs and other supplies to U.S. bases and to ships at sea. Decommissioned in July 1946, she was turned over to the War Shipping Administration and laid up at Lee Hall, Virginia. Saturn remained in the Maritime Administration's reserve fleet until September 1972, when she was sold for scrapping. She was delivered to her new owner in December of that year and subsequently broken up in Spain.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Saturn (AK-49, later AF-40) and the German freighter Arauca.
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.
USS Saturn (AF-40) is seen in the left background of the following view of another ship:
The following photographs show the German freighter Arauca before she became USS Saturn:
In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Saturn (AK-49, later AF-40). The following list features some of these images:
The images listed below are NOT in
the Naval History and Heritage Command 's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Saturn (AK-49) underway at low speed in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia, 2 January 1944. Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station Norfolk. High aerial view, taken from off the ship's stern and slightly to port. As 80-G-214187, but high aerial view taken from off the ship's bow and slightly to port. As 80-G-214187, but starboard broadside aerial view. As 80-G-214187, but port bow aerial view. As 80-G-214187, but port quarter aerial view.
USS Saturn (AF-40) underway in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia, 3 July 1944. Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station Hampton Roads. High aerial view, taken from directly above the ship and slightly to port. As 80-G-235170, but port broadside (somewhat toward the stern) aerial view. As 80-G-235170, but port broadside aerial view. As 80-G-235170, but aerial view from off the ship's bow and somewhat to port. As 80-G-235170, but aerial view from almost directly off the ship's bow.
USS Saturn (AF-40) underway off the U.S. East Coast (position 40-57'N, 68-35'W) on course 010, 16 October 1944. Photographed from an blimp of squadron ZP-11. Starboard broadside high aerial view, with the ship making good speed. USS Saturn (AF-40) underway during operations off the U.S. East Coast, 29 April 1946. Photographed from on board USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42). Port quarter surface view, taken from about the level of the top of Saturn's pilothouse.
Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval History and Heritage Command The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval History and Heritage Command 's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them 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 May 2004
New images added 11 January 2009