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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Orion (AC-11)
ex
 USS Orion (Collier #11) (1912 - 1920)
 USS Orion (ID #1650)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Mexican Service Medal - World War I Victory Medal
Orion Class Collier:
  • Laid down, 6 October 1911, at Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 23 March 1912
  • Commissioned USS Orion (Collier No. 11), 29 July 1912, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Decommissioned, 9 October 1914
  • Laid up in the Norfolk Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 28 December 1914
  • Redesignated USS Orion (AC-11), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 18 June 1926, at Norfolk
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 10 July 1931
  • Sold, 30 August 1933, to Union Ship Building Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 19,132 t.
    Length 536'
    Beam 65'
    Draft 27' 8"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement 179
    Armament four 3" gun mounts
    Propulsion coal fired steam turbine, single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
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    Orion 60k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) photographed prior to World War I, probably during her first years of service. Note: she has not yet received the enclosed pilot house, atop her forward superstructure, that she carried from at least 1917 onward.
    US Navy photo # NH 99778 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 70k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) in the Dewey Dry Dock, Olongapo Naval Station, Philippines, in February 1916. Photograph from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90435    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 71k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) underway at sea off New York Harbor in October 1917, after passing the Ambrose light ship. Photograph from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90432    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 90k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) discharging cargo at St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, 27 October 1918. Photograph from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90434    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 135k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) offloading coal at a West Indies port (possibly St. Thomas, Virgin Islands), circa 1918-1919. Note local women with coal baskets atop their heads.
    US Navy photo # NH 90440 from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Orion 78k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) at anchor, circa 1919.
    US Navy photo # NH 68320, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 127k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) coaling at the Norfolk & Western coal pier, Norfolk, VA., circa 1919. Photographed by A.E. Wells, Washington, D.C. From the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90445    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 87k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) at the Norfolk Navy Yard, VA., circa 1919. Panoramic photograph taken by the G.L. Hall Optical Co. of Norfolk, VA. Note: the Sailor making a semaphore signal from the ship's port bridge wing (at left), and several gun barrels stacked in the far right foreground. Donation of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum, Portsmouth, VA. to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 99779    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 80k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) drying signal flags while anchored off Long Beach, California, August 1919. Photograph from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90437    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 87k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) Crewmen at mess on deck, outside the ship's after superstructure, circa 1917-1920.
    US Navy photo # NH 90436 from the US Naval Historical Center, Collection CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Orion 117k USS Orion (Collier No. 11) ship's officers and mascot, 14 May 1920, photo by A.E. Wells, Washington, D.C. Orion is partially visible behind them. Her Commanding Officer, CDR John H. Boesch, USNRF, is seated behind the dog.
    US Navy photo # NH 90438 from the US Naval Historical Center, Collection Commander John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Orion 70k USS Orion (AC-11) coaling USS Pittsburgh (CA-4), flagship of Commander U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters, at Cardiff, Wales, during the early 1920s.
    US Navy photo # NH 93724 courtesy of Jack Howland, 1982, from the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 96k USS Orion (AC-11) eastbound in the Gatun Lock, Panama Canal, November 1921. Photograph from the collection of CDR. John H. Boesch, USNRF. Donated by Jack Howland, 1979 to the US Naval Historical Center.
    US Navy photo # NH 90442.    		 Tony Cowart
    Jason 68k USS Orion (AC-11) or USS Jason (AC-12) at a Caribbean area base, probably the Coco Solo Submarine Base, Panama Canal Zone, circa the mid-1920s. USS O-2 (SS-63) is at right.
    US Navy photo # NH 100770 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Paul H. Silverstone, 1986.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Orion 86k USS Orion (AC-11) anchored off the Isle of Pines, Cuba, during the 1920s. Photographed from USS Hannibal (AG-1).
    US Navy photo # NH 99716 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, collection of LeRoy R. Horstman.    		 Tony Cowart
    Orion 134k USS Orion (AC-11) at Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA., 8 April 1923, with her officers and crew posed beside her. Panoramic photograph taken by H.J. Darley, of Somerville, MA. entitled: "Officers & Crew of the U.S.S. Orion after the bestowal by the Portuguese Government of the Decoration 'Torre e Espada' -- Boston Navy Yard April 8th 1923".
    US Navy photo # NH 99780 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    View the USS Orion (AC-11)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Not Applicable to this Vessel
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 25 April 2005