USS Saturn (AK-49)

USS Saturn (AF-40) in 1944
History
Nazi Germany
NameES Arauca[1][2]
NamesakeArauca, Colombia
OwnerHamburg America Line[1]
OperatorHamburg America Line
Port of registryNazi Germany Hamburg
BuilderBremer Vulkan[1]
Launched1939
Completed1939[1]
Maiden voyageAugust 1939
Out of service19 December 1939
Captured28 July 1941
FateInterned in the United States; later requisitioned by the Navy, 20 April 1942
United States
Name
  • SS Sting (1941)[1]
  • USS Saturn (1942–46)[2]
  • SS Saturn (1946–72)
Operator
Acquired20 April 1942[3]
Commissioned20 April 1942[3]
Decommissioned23 July 1946[3]
Stricken15 August 1946[3]
Identification
FateSold for scrap, 12 September 1972[3]
General characteristics
Type
Tonnage
Displacement
  • 5,088 tons light;[2]
  • 9,760 maximum load[2]
Length
Beam55.7 ft (17.0 m)[1]
Draught24 ft (7.3 m)[2][3]
Depth22.8 ft (6.9 m)[1]
Installed power5,600 shp[2]
Propulsionturbo-electric transmission[2]
Speed17.5 knots (32.4 km/h)[2][3]
Complement180 (1944)[2]
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Notes

USS Saturn (AK-49) was a German cargo ship, built in 1939 as ES Arauca. ("ES" stands for "Electroschiff", meaning German: electric ship.) In 1941 before the US entered World War II, US authorities seized her and started converting her into a United States Navy stores ship. She was the sole ship of the US Navy's Saturn class. She was laid up in 1946 and scrapped in 1972.

Arauca was built for trade between Germany and the Caribbean, and was named accordingly. Arauca is a border town in eastern Colombia on the frontier with Venezuela.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1941. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Roberts, Stephen S (10 January 2010). "Class: Saturn (AF-49)". U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels 1884–1945. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Saturn". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2013.