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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Sterling (I)

International Radio Call Sign, 1912:
Nan - Tare - Able NTA

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Spanish Campaign Medal - World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp)

Screw Steamer (Collier):

Built, in 1881, as the cargo ship SS Lamington, by Robert Duncan & Co., Port Glasgow, Scotland, for Renton & Co., Glasgow, Scotland

Launched, 24 August 1881

Ownership transferred in 1885 to Raeburn & Verel

Ownership transferred in 1896 to Black Diamond Transportation Co., Boston

Commissioned, USS Sterling, 16 April 1898, CDR. R. E. Impey in command

During the Spanish-American war USS Sterling operated as a Collier along the US east coast and in the Caribbean

Decommissioned, 1 March 1899, at Boston Navy Yard

Recommissioned in 1902, assigned to the Atlantic Fleet

Decommissioned circa 1904

Recommissioned, 2 February 1916

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), 9 January 1918

Reassigned to the 3rd Naval District, 6 May 1919

Decommissioned, 7 July 1919, at Philadelphia, PA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 3 August 1919

Final Disposition, hulk sold to F & H Starr, New York City

Resold in 1919 Anglo-South American Bank, Valparaiso, Chile, renamed SS Llai Llai, reflagged, Chilean

Final Disposition, sunk by collision with Chilean navy cruiser O'Higgins, 11 March 1920, in Iquique harbor

Specifications:
Displacement 5,660 t.
Length 284'
Beam 37'
Draft 22' 6"
Speed 11 kts.
Complement 80

Armament

four 6-pdrs

Propulsion

two coal fired boilers

one steam engine

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
	67k	USS Sterling moored, probably at Boston, circa, 1898 to early 1899. Her original owner's smokestack markings are still visible under the probable overall coat of gray paint. US National Archives, RG-19-N box 1, Photo # 19-N-14247 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	55k	USS Sterling moored inboard, the USS Vesuvius while laid up at Boston Navy Yard circa 1900. The stern of USS Prairie is partially visible at the extreme right. Photo courtesy of the Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, 1979, US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 90373, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	90k	USS Sterling in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 2 May 1907, during the Jamestown Exposition International Naval Review. US National Archives, RG-19-N box 1, Photo # 19-N-14225 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	106k	US Collier Sterling at anchor in the Hudson River, 3 October 1911, near the New York Navy Yard during that year's Presidential Naval Review. US National Archives photo # 19-N-61-8-16 and Library of Congress photo # LC-B2- 3754-12	Mike Green
	100k	US Collier Sterling at anchor in the Hudson River near the New York Navy Yard during the Presidential Navy Review, 3 October 1911. Photo from the George Bain Collection, Library of Congress, call # LC-B2- 3754-3	Photo-Art Siegel Caption-Mike Green
09029706	136k	Letter from Acting Chief of Bureau of Navigation, of November 28, 1912, to First Officer Peter M. Gedeberg, N.A.S, directing First Officer Gedeberg to report to the Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard, for assignment to the US Collier Sterling.	Tommy Trampp

USS Sterling
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Sterling - Shipscribe.com US Navy Colliers

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 21 August 2020