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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Vega (AK-17)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Xray - Mike
 NAXM
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 7 December 1941) - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Sirus Class Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 8 July 1918, as SS Lebanon under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract at American International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, PA.
  • Launched, 18 July 1919
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 2 December 1921
  • Commissioned USS Vega (AK-17), 21 December 1921 at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA., LT. William H. Newman, USNRF, in command
  • During World War II USS Vega was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Pearl Harbor - Midway
    Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941     		Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 25 to 31 July 1944
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 1 to 15 August 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 13 to 14 June 1944

  • Decommissioned, 15 January 1946, at Oakland, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 March 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 1 July 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold by the Maritime Commission, 6 August 1946, for scrapping to National Metals and Steel Corp.
  • USS Vega received four battle stars for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,037 t. 11,360 t.(fl)
    Length 401'
    Beam 54' 2"
    Draft 24' 5"
    Speed 11.1 kts (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 36
    Enlisted 413
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity Non-refrigerated 272,420 Cu ft, 5,100DWT
    Refrigerated 7,000 Cu ft
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose guns
    eight 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 8,215 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric-Curtis geared turbine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 215 psi, Sat.
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    Ship's Service Generators
    two turbo-drive 60Kw 120V D,C,
    one turbo-drive 25Kw 120V D,C,
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Vega 41k USS Vega (AK-17) mooring at New York Navy Yard during the 1920s with the help of a commercial tug.
    US Navy photo    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Vega 72k USS Vega (AK-17) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Jon Burdett
    Vega 155k USS Vega (AK-17) moored pierside at Brooklyn Navy Yard, 11 April 1929. Note that her bridge structure is topped by a partially enclosed conning position with a probable deckhouse behind it.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 753    		 Mike Green
    Vega 43k USS Vega (AK-17) moored pierside, circa 1937, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Vega 107k USS Vega (AK-17) near Mare Island Navy Yard, 2 February 1942, after installation of armament. Her four 3" guns have been grouped on a raised deck after the bridge and the hatch there and the kingposts that served it have been removed. The gun positions carry 3"/23 guns pending availability of 3"/50 guns, which were back-fitted later in 1942.
    US National Archives, RG-19 textual files, item S-22 (inclining experiments), Photo # Unknown, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    Vega 41k USS Vega (AK-17) underway, 8 September 1942.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Vega 130k USS Vega (AK-17) at the Ames Terminal, Seattle, Washington, 5 January 1944, after change of armament. Her armament has been modified along the same lines as that of USS Capella (AK-13), including a 5"/38 gun on the stern.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-57176 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    USS Vega (AK-17)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Newman, William H. 21 December 1921 - ?
    02CDR. Caldwell, Turner Foster :RADM 1922 - ?
    03CDR Stewart, Lehigh Morrison17 September 1923 - 5 May 1925
    04CDR Bowdey, George Hall1925 - 1926
    05CDR Kidd Sr., Isaac Campbell :RADM5 May 1925 - 6 August 1926
    06CDR. Bogart, Isaac Crabell6 August 1926 - ?
    07CDR. Robinson, Francis Martin1928 - ?
    08CDR. Landon, John Jackson4 May 1929 - 20 May 1931
    09CDR. Krakow, Carl Christian20 May 1931 - ?
    10CDR. Smith Jr., William Robinson7 June 1933 - 2 June 1934
    11CDR. Flynn, Cornelius William2 June 1934 - ?
    12CDR. Eason, Curry Ester15 June 1938 - 22 April 1939
    13CDR. Vetter, John Peter22 April 1939 - ?
    14CDR. Smith, Arthur Chester3 October 1942 - ?
    15LCDR. Rice, Frederic C.22 December 1943 - 7 October 1944
    16LCDR. Dell, William B.7 October 1944 - 28 March 1945
    17LCDR. Branan, Victor C.28 March 1945 - 18 April 1945
    18LCDR. Burling, Donald Oscar18 April 1945 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 5 April 2013