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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Robert L. Barnes (AG-27)
ex
 USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14) (1921 - 1938)
 USS Robert L. Barnes (AK-11) (1920 - 1921)
 USS Robert L. Barnes (ID#3088) (1918 - 1920)


1927-International Radio Call Sign:
Negative - Able - Zed - Zed
 NAZZ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Guam, 8 December 1941) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Robert L. Barnes Class Tanker:
  • Laid down in 1917 at McDougall Duluth Ship Building Co., Duluth, MN. for the Robert Barnes Steam Ship Co
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Acquired by the United States Shipping Board (USSB), 29 June 1918, transferred to the Navy the same day
  • Commissioned USS Robert L. Barnes (ID-3088), 19 October 1918, at New York
  • LT. George C. Daniels assumed command, 29 January 1919
  • Designated (AO-14), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned in March 1927
  • Recommissioned, 1 July 1930, LT. Theodore G. Haff in command
  • Designation changed to Miscellaneous Auxiliary (Oil Depot Ship) (AG-27), July 1938
  • Captured by Japanese forces, 10 December 1941, at Guam Marianas Islands
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 24 July 1942
  • Recovered from Japan at war's end
  • Sold to a British mercantile interest, renamed Fortune and M.T.S. No. 2 from 1945 to 1949
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1950
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,630 long tons (lt) 3,850 long tons (fl)
    Length 258' 6"
    Beam 43' 2"
    Draft 15' (max)
    Speed 8,5 kts.
    Complement
    one officer
    three Chief Petty Officers
    50 other enlisted
    Armament none
    Cargo Capacity 1,900 t.
    Propulsion
    two single ended boilers
    one vertical reciprocating steam engine
    single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service
    Robert L. Barnes 28k SS Robert L. Barnes underway circa 1917, before acquisition by the Navy. Alexander McDougall built her as the prototype "rectangular ship" or "sea-going canal boat," with a plain, low hull and a superstructure that could be removed to pass under canal bridges.
    US Navy photo # NH 65155 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14)
    Robert L. Barnes 51k USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14) at Guam in the 1920s or 1930s. Note the extensive use of awnings.
    US Navy photo # NH 99600 from the collection of Roscoe C. Stevens at the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Robert L. Barnes 104k USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14) at Guam in the 1920s or 1930s. Note the ship's barge, with sailing gear rigged, in foreground.
    US Navy photo # NH 71566 from the collection of Roscoe C. Stevens at the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Robert L. Barnes
    091901404    		 116k USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14) serving as a station tanker at Guam circa 1932. This ship was reclassified AG-27 in 1938.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 105249.    		 Robert Hurst
    Robert L. Barnes
    091901405    		 72k Guard Mail postage stamp featuring USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14) Guard Mail was local mail on Guam instituted in the 1930s. Guard Mail was necessary since the US Post Office at Guam did not deliver to individual addresses. Tommy Trampp
    USS Robert L. Barnes (AO-14)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Daniels, George C.29 January 1919 - 6 June 1920
    02LTjg. Evans, George Blaine, USN6 June 1920 - ?
    03LT. Dorsey, Arthur Bales19 October 1922 - 19 October 1922
    05LT. Rodman, Walker Perry10 December 1924 - March 1927
     DecommissionedMarch 1927 - 1 July 1930
    06LT. Haff, Theodore Germond1 July 1930 - 14 June 1932
    07LT. Goldy, Harry Donald14 June 1932 - ?
    08LT. Thieme, Karl August21 June 1935 - 6 June 1936
    09LCDR. Dugan, Paul Fleming6 June 1936 - ?
    10LT. Edgar. Harold Brown11 June 1938 - 10 December 1941 (Captured by Japan)
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Fleet Tankers Association
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Identification Numbered (ID) and Section Patrol Craft (SP) Photo Index Back To The Fleet Oiler (AO) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Auxiliary (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 17 June 2022