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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Savannah (ID # 3015, later AS-8), 1917-1934.
Originally the German Freighter Saxonia (1899)
USS Savannah, a 10,800 ton submarine tender, was built
at Flensburg, Germany, in 1899 as the commercial freighter Saxonia.
The German-flag steamer took refuge at Seattle, Washington, when
World War I began in August 1914 and was seized when the United
States entered the conflict in April 1917. Soon turned over to
the Navy, she was renamed Savannah in June 1917. Following
conversion for submarine support purposes, the ship was commissioned
in early November 1917 and later received the registry ID number
3015.
Late in 1917 Savannah accompanied three submarines on
a voyage from the West Coast to the Atlantic, by way of the Panama
Canal. She received additional modifications and, in August 1918,
began work as mother ship for a division of "O"-class
submarines. During the Fall of 1918 Savannah and her flock
of undersea craft crossed the Atlantic to the Azores, where they
arrived soon after the 11 November Armistice ended the fighting.
They then returned to the United States. In 1919 the submarine
tender took part in Atlantic Fleet exercises in the Caribbean.
During the early 1920s Savannah, which was designated
AS-8 in July 1920, was built up forward, giving her a "flush-deck"
appearance. She continued her submarine support work in the western
Atlantic area during the first half of the 1920s, but made at
least one Panama Canal transit to the Pacific during this time.
She was permanently transferred to the big ocean in mid-decade
and thereafter operated along the West Coast and in Hawaiian waters.
USS Savannah was decommissioned in December 1926, but remained
in reserve at the Puget Sound Navy Yard for almost eight more
years. Stricken from the Navy list in June 1934, she was sold
that September and returned to commercial service. She was renamed
Orbis in 1942 and was scrapped in Japan in 1954.
This page features, or provides links to, virtually all
the views we have concerning USS Savannah (ID # 3015, later
AS-8).
For more pictures concerning USS Savannah, see:
USS Savannah (ID # 3015) --
Additional Views taken circa 1917-1919; and
USS Savannah (AS-8) -- Additional
Views taken circa 1920 and later.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
The following photos show Savannah in her original
configuration, with a well deck forward:
Photo #: NH 65066
USS Savannah (ID # 3015)
At the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 12 November
1917, nine days after entering commissioned service.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 78KB; 625 x 675 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 105648
USS Savannah (ID # 3015, later AS-8)
Probably shown circa 1918 soon after entering service.
Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 455 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 42413
USS Savannah (ID # 3015)
In Hampton Roads, Virginia, circa 1919. In the distance are the
hospital ship Solace (left) and the supply ship Culgoa
(right).
Photographed by F.J. Kelty.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 44KB; 740 x 430 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98630
USS Savannah (ID # 3015)
With "O"-type submarines alongside, circa 1919.
USS O-6 (Submarine # 67) is outboard at Savannah's
bow, and USS O-8 (Submarine # 69) is outboard at her stern.
Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 440 pixels |
 |
The photos below show Savannah in her 1920s configuration,
with her former well deck filled in to give her a "flush
deck" appearance:
Photo #: NH 81410
USS Savannah (AS-8)
Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 30 August 1924.
Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 44074
USS Savannah (AS-8)
At anchor in port, during the 1920s.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98632
USS Savannah (AS-8)
At sea under sail and steam, circa the mid-1920s.
Photographed by Chief Signalman Peck.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 44073
USS Savannah (AS-8)
With three "S" type submarines alongside, December
1924.
The outboard submarine is S-27 (SS-132). Savannah
tended Submarine Division Eleven, which consisted of S-24
through S-29.
USS Bushnell (AS-2) is in the left background.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 570 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98631
USS Savannah (AS-8)
At anchor, with "S"-type submarines alongside, 23 December
1924.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 114KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 42414
USS Savannah (AS-8)
At the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, during the 1920s.
Taken by the Jones Foto Co.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 445 pixels |
 |
For more pictures concerning USS Savannah, see:
USS Savannah (ID # 3015) --
Additional Views taken circa 1917-1919; and
USS Savannah (AS-8) -- Additional
Views taken circa 1920 and later.
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 14 August 2003
New image added 11 May 2008