USS Ajax (AG-15)

USS Scindia (1898–1925, later renamed Ajax) Moored in the stream off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1899.
History
United States
NameUSS Ajax
BuilderD & W Henderson Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland
Launched19 June 1890
Acquiredby purchase, 12 May 1898
Commissioned21 May 1898, as USS Scindia
Decommissioned8 July 1925
RenamedAjax, 1 January 1901
Reclassified
  • AC-14, 17 October 1921
  • AG-15, 1 July 1924
Stricken8 July 1925
FateSold, 14 August 1925
General characteristics
TypeCollier
Displacement9,250 long tons (9,400 t)
Length387 ft 6 in (118.11 m)
Beam24 ft 8 in (7.52 m)
Draft30 ft (9.1 m)
Speed10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement101 officers and enlisted
Armament4 × 6-pounders

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.

The screw steamer Scindia was a steel-hulled freighter built in 1890 by D & W Henderson Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland. Purchased on 12 May 1898—three weeks after the opening of the Spanish–American War—by the U.S. Navy at New York. She was fitted out at the New York Navy Yard for service as a collier, and was placed in commission there on 21 May 1898.