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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Altair (AD-11)

International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - Unit - Rush - George
 NURG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal (with bronze star in lieu of Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Altair Class Destroyer Tender
  • Laid down under United State Shipping Board (USSB) contract 1738 as SS Edisto, 18 December 1918, at Skinner and Eddy Corp., Seattle, WA.
  • Launched, 10 May 1919
  • Assigned US Navy ID No. 4156
  • Completed in June 1919
  • Transferred to the Navy from the USSB, 29 October 1921
  • Renamed Altair, 2 November 1921
  • Commissioned USS Altair (AD-11), 6 December 1921, at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., CDR. James H. Comfort in command
  • Decommissioned, 26 June 1946, at Hunter's Point Navy Yard, San Francisco, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register and transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 9 March 1948, to Basalt Rock Co., Napa CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 10,400 t.(lim)
    Length 423' 9"
    Beam 54' 3"
    Draft 20' 9" (lim)
    Speed 10.5 kts.(trial)
    Complement
    officers 35
    enlisted 573
    Armament
    one 5"/51cal gun mount
    four 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts (authorized but never installed)
    three twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Largest Boom Capacity 12 t.
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 8,860 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric, Curtis design turbine
    two Yarrow boilers 210psi Sat.
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear Ship's Service Generators
     two turbo-drive 200Kw 120V D.C.
     two turbo-drive 50Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Altair
    09031107    		 242k USS Altair (AD-11) moored in Pearl Harbor, T.H., 8 February 1925. Among the destroyers alongside are: USS Marcus (DD-321), next to Altair; USS Sloat (DD-316), 3rd outboard of Altair; and USS Litchfield (DD-336), outboard ship in the nest.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #: NH 57797.    		 Robert Hurst
    and Rick Davis
    Altair
    09031113    		 36k USS Altair (AD-11) at anchor, date and location unknown David Wright
    Altair 82k USS Altair (AD-11) at anchor in San Diego Bay, date unknown.
    US Navy photo from the Navy Recruiting Bureau, New York.    		 Darryl Baker
    Altair 46k USS Altair (AD-11) underway, circa 1927, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Altair 19k USS Altair (AD-11) underway, date and location unknown. Hyper War US Navy in WWII
    Altair 27k USS Altair (AD-11) underway, date and location unknown. Hyper War US Navy in WWII
    Altair 117k USS Altair (AD-11) moored to a buoy, circa the late 1930s. In this photo it appears that the deck house on the stern has been expanded.
    US Navy photo, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Altair 206k USS Altair (AD-11) moored to a buoy, circa the late 1930s tending five destroyers on her port side.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Altair 09031104 93k USS Altair (AD-11) in what appears to be Measure 12 (modified) camouflage, moored at Port of Spain, Trinidad, 1 October 1942, tending from right to left USS Spry (PG-64), USS Upshur (DD-144), and USS Goff (DD-247), and the Dutch minelayer/patrol vessel HNMS Jan van Brakel (M-80).
    Photo was taken from USS Pocomoke (AV-9) which is passing through anchorage with USS Roe (DD-418) and USS Eberle (DD-430).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-31669, a US Navy photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Photo - Joe Radigan MACM USN
    Caption - John Chiquoine
    Altair 38k USS Altair (AD-11) off Norfolk Navy Yard following refit, 25 July 1945
    US Navy photo    		  
    Altair
    09031124    		 1264k USS Altair (AD-11) at anchor in San Francisco Bay, circa 8 May 1946. Note: WWII equipment added to the ship: additional AA guns, gun directors & radars.
    U.S. Navy photo from the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker
    USS Altair (AD-11)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Comfort, James Hall, USN (USNA 1900)6 December 1921 - 18 December 1923
    02CDR. Finney, Earl Peck, USN (USNA 1902)18 December 1923 - 26 June 1926
    03CAPT. Foote, Percy Wright, USN (USNA 1902) :RADM26 June 1926 - 13 April 1928
    04CAPT. Rowan, Stephen Clegg, USN (USNA 1903)13 April 1928 - 18 May 1929
    05CDR. Roberts, Frank Hamilton, USN (USNA 1906)18 May 1929 - 12 May 1931
    06CAPT. Collins, Julian Herbert, USN (USNA 1906)12 May 1931 - 24 June 1932
    07CAPT. Beauregard, Augustin Toutant, USN (USNA 1907) :RADM24 June 1932 - 5 June 1934
    08CAPT. Gearing Jr., Henry Chalfont, USN (USNA 1907)5 June 1934 - 18 June 1936
    09CAPT. Le Clair, Hugh Pope, USN (USNA 1909)18 June 1936 - 8 June 1937
    10CDR. Craven, Francis Sanderson, USN (USNA 1911) 8 June 1937 - 5 June 1939
    11CDR. Broadbent, Ernest William, USN (USNA 1912)5 June 1939 - 30 April 1941
    12CDR. Hutchins, Gordon, USN (USNA 1913) 30 April 1941 - 10 June 1941
    13CDR. Hartley, Henry, USN 10 June 1941 - 1 February 1942
    14CDR. Patterson, Theodore Thomas, USN (USNA 1916)1 February 1942 - 15 June 1942
    15CDR. Rend, Charles Joseph, USN (USNA 1919)15 June 1942 - 11 January 1943
    16CAPT. Hutchinson Jr., Myron Wells, USN (USNA 1915)11 January 1943 - 15 August 1943
    17CAPT. Poole, Elwood Dixon, USN (USNA 1921-B)15 August 1943 - 8 August 1944
    18CAPT. Holden, Walter Emerson, USN8 August 1944 - 21 June 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves, Photos courtesy Bill Gonyo
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 February 2024