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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN Ret.

AS-21 / AG-67 Antaeus
AH-18 Rescue

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Quebec - Whiskey
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
  • Laid down (date unknown) as SS Saint John, a passenger liner for the Eastern Steamship Lines at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, Newport News, VA.
  • Launched, 9 January 1932
  • Delivered to Eastern Steamship Lines, 22 April 1932
  • Acquired by the Navy, 24 April 1941
  • Converted to a Submarine Tender
  • Commissioned USS Antaeus (AS-21), 17 May 1941, CDR. R. S. Morse in command
  • Redesignated to Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG-67), 15 September 1943
  • Converted to a Hospital Ship at New York Navy Yard
  • Renamed and Reclassified USS Rescue (AH-18), 18 January 1945
  • During World War II Rescue was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 13 June 1945     		3d Fleet operations against Japan, 5 July 1945

  • Decommissioned, 29 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 August 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 29 June 1946
  • Sold by the Maritime Commission for commercial service (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1959
  • Antaeus as Rescue earned two battle stars for her World War II service
    AS Specifications:
    Displacement 8,350 t.
    Length 403'
    Beam 61'
    Draft 20'
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement (AS) 440
    Armament
    Original configuration
    one 4"/50 gun mount aft
    two 3"/23 gun mounts forward
    Upgraded
    one 4"/50 gun mount aft
    four 3"/50 gun mounts, two forward, two aft
    Propulsion geared turbine, twin screws, 13,000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Commercial Service
    St John 72k The Eastern Steamship Lines passenger liner SS Saint John underway before her conversion to Antaeus (AS-21). On this retouched copy of the original image, printed as a souvenir of the Navy ship, the owner's house flag painted on the stack was deleted. This flag was a swallowtail design featuring the letter "E" for the Eastern Steamship Co.
    US Navy photo # NH 98784 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Antaeus (AS-21)
    Antaeus 74k Broadside view of Antaeus (AS-21) underway, 30 June 1941, upon completion of her conversion to a submarine tender. Her original armament was one 4"/50 aft and two 3"/23 forward. Note the three-tone graded camouflage in use at that time.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-24325 from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the collections of the US National Archives, Photo by Huges Co., Baltimore, MD.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Antaeus 68k Starboard bow view of Antaeus (AS-21) underway, 30 June 1941, upon completion of her conversion to a submarine tender. Her original armament was one 4"/50 aft and two 3"/23 forward. Note the three-tone graded camouflage in use at that time.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-24324 from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the collections of the US National Archives, Photo by Huges Co., Baltimore, MD.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Antaeus 61k Stern view of Antaeus (AS-21) underway, 30 June 1941, upon completion of her conversion to a submarine tender. Her original armament was one 4"/50 aft and two 3"/23 forward. Note the three-tone graded camouflage in use at that time.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-24326 from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the collections of the US National Archives, Photo by Huges Co., Baltimore, MD.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Antaeus 59k Antaeus (AS-21) underway off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 25 June 1943, after overhaul. During this overhaul her armament was upgraded to one 4"/50 gun and two 3"/50 guns aft and two 3"/50 guns forward, visible here.
    US Navy photo # NH 96628, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Antaeus 84k Stern view of Antaeus (AS-21) at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 25 June 1943. During this overhaul her armament was upgraded to one 4"/50 gun and two 3"/50 guns aft, visible here, and two more 3"/50 guns forward. Phoenix (CL-46) is in drydock in the distance at left, with a 6"/47 gun turret on the pier nearby.
    US Navy photo # NH 92284, Courtesy of Frank Jankowski, 1981, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Antaeus 21k Antaeus (AS-21) underway, date and locaiton unknown.
    Note Antaeus is painted Camouflage Measure 12(mod).    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    USS Antaeus (AG-67)
    Antaeus 101k Antaeus (AG-67) underway, 27 November 1944, circa January 1944 her armament was reduced to one 4"/50 gun aft and two 3"/50 guns, probably forward. The numerous life rafts reflect her primary function as an East Coast troop transport.
    US Navy photo # NH 84624, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1976.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Rescue (AH-18)
    Rescue 109k Rescue (AH-18) underway, 2 March 1945. She carries the standard wartime hospital ship markings of a small red cross amidships with a long stripe.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-439636 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Rescue 54k Rescue (AH-18) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Naval Hospital Corps School
    Rescue 97k Rescue (AH-18) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Rescue 72k Rescue (AH-18) in San Francisco Bay, CA., in late 1945 or early 1946.
    US Navy photo # Photo #: NH 98756 donated by BM1 Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Rescue 100k Rescue (AH-18) off San Francisco, CA., 2 March 1946. She carries the postwar hospital ship markings of three large red crosses connected by a stripe.
    US Navy photo # Photo #: NH 77384, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1973.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    View the Antaeus (AS-21) / (AG-67) / Rescue (AH-18)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Submarine Tenders of the United States Navy
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Submarine Tender (AS) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) Photo Index Back To The Hospital Ship (AH) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 8 June 2007