- USS Orion (AC-11)
Orion (AC–11) was laid down by the
Maryland Steel Co.,Sparrows Point, Maryland ,6 October 1911 ; launched23 March 1912 ; and commissioned atNorfolk 29 July 1912 .Assigned to general collier duty with the
Atlantic Fleet in September, Orion remained in the western Atlantic until placed in reserve at Norfolk9 October 1914 . Recommissioned28 December 1914 she continued to serve the Atlantic Fleet until ordered toCavite in January 1917.At Colon in the
Canal Zone when the United States enteredWorld War I , Orion remained there until 21 May, then returned to Norfolk, whence she steamed to theAzores for operations during June and July. During the latter month, she also assisted in placing a defensive chain across the harbor atPunta Delgado . Returning briefly toHampton Roads , Orion departed again 18 August and carried coal and drafts of men toBahia, Brazil for further transfer toFrederick ,Mount Baker , andGlacier . During the fall she served on the east coast from Norfolk to Boston, then, in January 1918, joined theNaval Overseas Transport Service .Continuing her collier duties under NOTS, she served on general duty in
Chesapeake Bay until she steamed south again in April. In May she off loaded coal atMontevideo , then headed back toward New York. Just after departing the former she sighted an enemy submarine and fired on it, chasing it off. On arrival back in the United States she resumed her more mundane coastal collier duties.After the end of the war and the completion of a coal run to France, Orion returned to the United States and on
5 February 1919 was detached from NOTS and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Fleet. In June she steamed to the west coast where she joined the Pacific Fleet and for the next year resupplied ports on the west coasts of both North and South America. In August she was transferred to theNaval Transport Service , then on maneuvers in the West Indies, and with that service continued to supply fleet units until December 1925. Then ordered inactivated, she decommissioned at Norfolk 18 June 1926. Struck from the Navy List10 July 1931 , she was sold to theUnion Ship Building Co., Baltimore, Maryland,30 August 1933 .
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