SARA THOMPSON AO 8

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Sara Thompson Class Oiler
Keel Laid 1888 by William Armstrong, Mitchell and Co., Newcastle, England


1. GUT HEIL (Commercial Service)
Operated as a German merchant tanker
Sold to American owners 1912, name retained
Sunk in an accident on the Mississippi River 1914
Raised 1917 and refurbished
Acquired by U.S. Navy August 8 1918
Renamed September 7 1918


2. USS SARA THOMPSON ID-3148
Commissioned September 17 1918
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS)


3. USS SARA THOMPSON AO-8
Reclassified Oiler (AO) July 17 1920
Placed in Reduced Commission (in ordinary) December 8 1921 at Cavite, P.I.


4. USS SARA THOMPSON (Receiving Ship)
Assigned as Receiving Ship at Navy Yard Cavite, 6 January 1930
See US Receiving Ship - Cavite PI for more information
Decommissioned July 21 1933
Struck from Naval Register December 12 1933


5. SARANGANI (Bunker Ship)
Sold August 9 1934 and used by the US Navy as a bunker ship (storage hulk)
Scuttled in 1942, to avoid capture by the Japanese


6. SANRAKU MARU (Imperial Japanese Navy)
Refloated, 30 September 1942, by the Japanese and repaired, between October 1942 and February 1943. Renamed
Placed in service, 3 February 1943, as an oiler for the Japanese Imperial Navy

Torpedoed and sunk by USS Trout (SS-202) 15 June 1943

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type F

1933-06-28 to 1933-06-28

"Sara Thompson" used as a Receiving Ship from December 1921 to July 1933 at Cavite PI.

 

Locy Type F

1933-07-10 to 1933-07-10

"Sara Thompson" used as a Receiving Ship from December 1921 to July 1933 at Cavite PI.

 

Locy Type F

1934-03-05 to 1934-03-05

Official Business

 

Locy Type F

1934-08-03 to 1934-08-03

USS Penquin AM-33 straight line marking also.

 

Other Information

SARA THOMPSON received the World War I Victory Medal (with Atlantic Fleet clasp) for her service during World War I.

NAMESAKE - She was purchased on August 8 1918 from J. W. Thompson of New York; renamed "Sara Thompson" on September 7 1918 at the request of her former owner.

 

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