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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Sagittarius (AKN-2)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Alpha - Kilo
NWAK

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive -Okinawa)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal

Indus Class Net Cargo Ship:

Laid down, 8 September 1943, as SS J. Fred Essary, a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 1835) at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Inc., Baltimore, MD.

Launched, 30 September 1943

Acquired by the Navy, 8 December 1943

Commissioned USS Sagittarius (AKN-2), 18 March 1944, CDR. L. B. Hillsinger USNR in command

During World War II USS Sagittarius was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 1 to 6 August 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 17 April to 30 June 1945

Decommissioned, 16 January 1946

Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 19 January 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, name reverted to SS J. Fred Essary

Struck from the Naval Register, 7 February 1946

USS Sagittarius earned two battle stars during World War II

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 12 September 1972, to Issac Varela for scrapping at Castellon, Spain

Specifications:
Displacement 4,023 t.(lt) 14,550 t.(fl)
Length 441' 6"
Beam 56' 11"
Draft 28' 4"
Speed 12.5 kts.

Complement

Officers 20

Enlisted 208

Largest Boom Capacity 10t.
Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four single 40mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 10,000 Bbls

Diesel 2,000 Bbls

Propulsion

one Hoover, Owens, Rentschler Co. vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450°

three turbo-drive 60K 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller, 2,500shp

Size	Image Description	Source
55k	i>Sagittarius (AKN-2) after launching at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Inc., Baltimore, MD., 30 September 1943.	David Nixon
102k	*USS Sagittarius* (AKN-2)** preparing to lower a Sea Mule over the side in April or May 1945 during the invasion of Okinawa. The Sea Mule helped deploy the nets, bundles of which are piled high on deck. US Navy photo # 80-G-327857 RG-80-G, US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
104k	*USS Sagittarius* (AKN-2)** at anchor off San Francisco, 17 January 1945. US Navy Bureau of Ships photo # 19-N-85162 RG-10-LCM, now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
412k	*USS Sagittarius* (AKN-2)** CDR. L. B. Hillsinger USNR stands on the pier beside his ship, circa August 1945, location unknown. US Navy photo.	Ed Zajkowski

USS Sagittarius (AKN-2)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Hillsinger, Lyle B., USNR	18 March 1944 - 21 November 1945
02	LCDR. Smith, Michael P., USNR	21 November 1945 - 16 January 1946


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

Last Updated 21 November 2014