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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Antigua (AF-17)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Victor - Xray
 NBVX
Antigua Class Stores Ship:
  • Built in 1931-32, at Bethlehem Ship Building Corp, Quincy, MA.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Completed and delivered, 1 April 1932, to United Fruit Company
  • Acquired by the War Shipping Administration from United Fruit Company, 26 December 1941
  • Allocated to the Navy by a General Agency Agreement, 28 December 1941
  • Designated Antigua (AF-17), never commissioned, for an unrecorded reason, the ship never joined the active Fleet
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 25 December 1942
  • Re-delivered to the United Fruit Company, 25 December 1942
  • Sold in December 1957 to the Swedish Salen Line, renamed SS Tortuga
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1964
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,893 t.
    Length 447' 10"
    Beam 60' 3"
    Draft 24' 7"
    Speed 16.5 kts
    Complement 114
    Cargo Capacity 2,300DWT
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    turbo-electric, single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merchant Service United Fruit Lines
    Antigua 84k SS Antigua in the service of United Fruit Co., docked at Wilmington, CA., date unknown. Bud Taylor for his father Rodney E. Taylor, Gunners Mate, US Navy Armed Guard Detachment, SS Antigua 1941-1943
    Antigua 291k Post card images of the United Fruit Co.'s Great White Fleet passenger/freighter SS Antigua at sea. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Antigua 418k
    War Shipping Administration
    Antigua 128k SS Antigua (AF-17) under way while operating with civilian crew, 27 November 1942, under allocation to the Navy for its exclusive use.
    US National Archives, RG-80-G. photo # 80-G-276591, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Antigua
    09061706    		 174k SS Antigua, beached on a reef, 10 October 1944. After being canceled by the U.S. Navy and returned to the War Shipping Administration Antigua resumed operations for the War Shipping Administration. In October 1944 , while en-route from San Francisco to Honolulu, collided with the Liberty ship SS E. A. Christensen at 71-53N 156-34W, about 80 miles west of Oahu. She was taken under tow by USS Deliver (ARS-23) and beached off the entrance to Pearl Harbor 9 October. On 23 October Antigua was refloated and towed into Pearl Harbor for repairs by USS Jicarilla (ATF-104). This photo shows that she was holed on her starboard side just below her bridge David Wright
    Post WWII Merchant Service
    Antigua 256k Ex-Antigua (AF-17) in Swedish merchant service as the Salen Lines SS Tortuga, moored pierside, date and location unknown. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Antigua (AF-17)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 19 May 2023