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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Great Northern
USAT Great Northern
USS Great Northern (ID-4569)
USS Great Northern (AG-9)
USS Columbia (AG-9)
USAT George S. Simonds

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp) - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Great Northern Class Transport:
  • Built in 1915 as SS H.F. Alexander at William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Acquired from her owners, Great Northern Pacific Steamship Co., 19 September 1917 by the United States Shipping Board (USSB)
  • Converted to a transport at the Puget Sound Navy Yard
  • Commissioned, USS Great Northern (ID-4569), 1 November 1917, CAPT. W. W. Phelps in command
  • Decommissioned, 15 August 1919, at New York, N.Y.
  • Transferred to the US Army Transportation Service and commissioned USAT Great Northern, 15 August 1919
  • Reacquired by the Navy, 8 August 1921
  • Recommissioned, USS Great Northern (AG-9), 11 August 1921, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., CAPT. J. K. Taussig USN commanding
  • Renamed USS Columbia (AG-9), 19 November 1921
  • Decommissioned, 4 March 1922, at Chester, PA.
  • Custody transferred to the USSB
  • Renamed SS H. F. Alexander and returned to merchant service with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co.
  • Reacquired by the War Shipping Board in 1942
  • Assigned to the US Army Transport Service and commissioned USAT George S. Simonds
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1946
  • Final disposition, scrapped
    Specifications: Displacement 8,255 t.
    Length 509' 6"
    Beam 63' 1"
    Draft 21'
    Speed 28 kts.
    Complement 559
    Armament four 6" guns
    Propulsion coal-fired steam turbines
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Commercial Service
    Great Northern 62k Great Northern underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Great Northern 193k Great Northern drydocked, date and place unknown. Judy Simpson in honor of her Grandfather John Marklin
    Great Northern 79k Great Northern civilian crew photo, circa May 1916. (John Marklin is seated front row far right.) Judy Simpson in honor of her Grandfather John Marklin
    USAT Great Northern
    Great Northern 98k USAT Great Northern in port, circa 1919, location unknown.
    US Navy photo # NH 71577 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Donald M. McPherson    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Great Northern (ID-4569)
    Great Northern 125k Great Northern (ID-4569) underway, date and place unknown. Jon Burdett
    Great Northern 76k Great Northern (ID-4569) moored pierside, date and place unknown. .
    Great Northern 62k Great Northern (ID-4569) entering the harbor at Brest, France, in November 1918.
    US Navy photo # NH 67752 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Photo from the US Naval Library, Treasure Island Naval Station, CA. 1969.    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 69k Great Northern (ID-4569) in a harbor, last half of 1918. The original image was printed backwards. The camouflage scheme seen here was painted on Great Northern's starboard side, and that on her port side was of a different pattern. (See 094900913 below).
    US Navy photo # NH 66498-A from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson.
    Great Northern 68k Great Northern (ID-4569) in a harbor, last half of 1918. The camouflage scheme seen here was painted on Great Northern's port side, and that on her starboard side was of a different pattern. (See 094900912 above).
    US Navy photo # NH 66498 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson.    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 47k Great Northern (ID-4569) underway at sea, circa early 1918 or during 1919.
    US Navy photo # NH 66288 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson.    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 88k Great Northern (ID-4569) moored pierside at New York City, with a small harbor passenger steamer coming alongside, circa early 1919.
    US Navy photo # NH 100644 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Jack Howland, 1986.    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 67k Great Northern (ID-4569) underway in the Atlantic in 1918, as seen from the masthead of another ship. An escorting destroyer is in the distance. Photographed by Zimmer.
    US Navy photos # 44754-A from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 57k Great Northern (ID-4569) at anchor Brest Harbor, France, circa 1919.
    US Navy photos # 100635 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Great Northern (AG-9)
    Great Northern 42k Great Northern (AG-9) getting underway from Mare Island Navy Yard, 2 September 1921. The ship anchored in the channel to the left is possibly Bath (AK-4). The decommissioned battleships Vermont (BB-20), Rhode Island (BB-17), Nebraska (BB-14) and Georgia (BB-15) are in the distance in the center of the photo. Mare Island's 150 ton floating crane, YD-33 is on the right. Darryl Baker
    USS Columbia (AG-9)
    Great Northern 88k Columbia (AG-9) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, dressed with flags for George Washington's Birthday, 22 February 1922.
    US Navy photo # NH 55295 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation -- Collection of Admiral Hilary P. Jones.    		 Robert Hurst
    Great Northern 51k Columbia (AG-9) in harbor, circa 1922, while serving as administrative flagship for the Commander in Chief, US Fleet, Admiral Hilary P. Jones.
    US Navy photo # NH 83095 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation -- Collection of Admiral Hilary P. Jones.    		 Robert Hurst
    Vestal 84k View of the harbor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with battleships, destroyers and auxiliaries of the U.S. Fleet present, circa 1922. Ship in center is Vestal (AR-4). In the right distance is Columbia (AG-9), the Fleet's administrative flagship.
    US Navy photo # NH 83740 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation -- Collection of Admiral Hilary P. Jones.    		 Robert Hurst
    USAT George S. Simonds
    Great Northern 72k USAT George S. Simonds underway, circa 1943-46, location unknown.
    US Navy photo # NH 103412 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, copied from the book "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles.    		 Robert Hurst
    View the Great Northern (AG-9)
    DANFS History entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 24 August 2007