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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Taganak (AG-45)
ex
 USS Lake Shore (ID-1792) (1918 - 1919)


Taganak International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Tango - Romeo
 NUTR

Lake Shore International Radio Call Sign:
Love - Have - Watch - Sail
 LHWS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
Lake Shore (ID-1792)

World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp)
Taganak (AG-45)


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (19 August 1943, retroactive)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Cargo Ship/Taganak Class Miscellaneous Auxiliary:
  • Built in 1917 as SS War Shell at Toledo Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, OH.
  • Launched, 29 September 1917
  • Acquired by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) and transferred to the Navy for service as a mine carrier
  • Commissioned USS Lake Shore (ID 1792), 11 January 1918
  • Decommissioned, 5 March 1919
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Returned to the USSB, 6 March 1919
  • Sold by USSB in 1923 to the E. K. Wood Lumber Co., San Francisco, CA., renamed SS Olympic
  • Reacquired by the Navy, 23 May 1942
  • Commissioned USS Taganak (AG-45), 23 July 1942, LCDR. Olin H. Pitts, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Taganak was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 25 March 1946, at Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946
  • Sold for scrapping, 15 November 1946, to Pillsbury and Martignoni Co., San Francisco, CA. resumed the name SS Olympic
  • Resold in 1947 to the Caribbean Land & Shipping Corp., of Panama, renamed SS Glento
  • Resold again in 1947 to Sven Dalen A/B, Stockholm, Sweden and renamed SS Pilhamn
  • Resold in 1954 to the Levant Shipping Co. (S.A.L.), Beirut, Lebanon and renamed SS Lulu
  • Final Disposition, finally scrapped in February 1961 at Piraeus, Greece
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,000 t.(fl)
    Length 261'
    Beam 43' 6"
    Draft 19'
    Speed 10.2 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 6
    Enlisted 48
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    Lake Shore
    one single 5" gun mount
    one 6-pounder
    Taganak
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    one single 40mm AA gun mount
    five single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 2,415 Bbls
    Diesel 120 bbls
    Propulsion
    one Toledo Ship Building vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine
    two Scotch boilers, 180psi Sat°
    Ships' Service Generators
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C.
    one Diesel-drive 40Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 1,200shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Pre-WWII Commercial Service
    War Shell 77k SS War Shell probably just after completion
    US Navy Photo # NH 10200 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Taganak (AG-45)
    Taganak 77k USS Taganak (AG-45) off Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 26 July 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-32046, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Taganak 51k USS Taganak (AG-45) bow-on view, taken off Mare Island Navy Yard, 26 July 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-32047, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Taganak 71k USS Taganak (AG-45) viewed from astern, with a motor tug nearby, while off the Mare Island Navy Yard, 26 July 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-32050, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Taganak 128k USS Taganak (AG-45) plan view forward, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 26 July 1942. Note boat cradles mounted atop the forward hatches, very long cargo-handling booms, details of the pilot house area, and life raft mounted amidships.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-32051, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Taganak 136k USS Taganak (AG-45) plan view amidships and aft, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 26 July 1942. Note the ship's masts, heavy lift boom and ventilation cowls. Men are loading boxes onto the ship from the truck at right. Truck has serial number USN 74615 painted on its door.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-32052, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Taganak 119k Forward plan view of USS Taganak (AG-45) at Oakland, CA., 5 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 817-44.    		 Darryl Baker
    Post-WWII Commercial Service
    Taganak 423k Ex-USS Taganak (AG-45) in commercial service as the Swedish-flagged SS Pilhamn, circa 1950, location unknown. ©F. K. Byass Gerhard Muller-Debus
    USS Taganak (AG-45)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Pitts, Olin Harrison, USNR23 July 1942 - 31 July 1942
    02LTjg. Haucom, James Edward, USNR (temporary)31 July 1942 - 10 August 1942
    03LCDR. Pitts, Olin Harrison, USNR10 August 1942 - 12 September 1942
    04LCDR. Holm, Vollmer H. S. G. USNR12 September 1942 - 6 April 1944
    05LT. Fallesen, Gordon Howard USNR6 April 1944 - 6 January 1945
    06LT. True Jr., Elroy Greene USNR6 January 1945 - 28 December 1945
    07LT. Webb, Clarence Louis USNR28 December 1945 - 10 January 1946
    08LTjg. Cooley, John Leonard USNR10 January 1945 - 25 March 1936
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back to The Identification Numbered Ships (ID) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous (AG) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 26 September 2015