USS Jason (Collier # 12)

 

The U.S. Navy collier USS Jason (AC-12) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, T.H., with a deckload of Douglas DT-2 aircraft (of Torpedo Squadron Two), 18 July 1923. Note the radio towers in the background.

Photographed circa 1919 by R.E. Wayne, probably in the Adriatic Sea area. Note the lighthouse in the left foreground. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

The first Jason (Fuel Ship, later AC12) was a collier of the United States Navy. She was laid down 26 March 1912 and launched 16 November 1912 by Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland.^[2]

On the morning of 7 March 1913 in Baltimore harbor, 300 tons of dynamite bound for use in constructing the Panama Canal was being loaded onto the British iron steamer Alum Chine from an adjacent car float when it detonated, completely annihilating both vessels. Jason, about 1,100 feet away and newly ready for sea trials, was blasted by the debris and showered with iron, timber and boxes of dynamite, some of which exploded on impact. At least three on Jason were killed, and many more wounded. The ship's master at the time, Capt. J. R. Thompson, on deck making preparations to leave, was knocked head over heels and nearly blown overboard. Jason's hull and plating, three-quarters to seven-eighths of an inch thick, was riddled with holes from the water line to the top of the smoke stacks, which were mashed almost flat by the force of the explosion.^[3][4] Jason was so badly battered by the explosion she required extensive repairs before she would be accepted by the Navy.^[5] As a result, she was not commissioned until 26 June 1913, Captain A. M. Whitton in command.^[2]

During Woodrow Wilson's first administration, Mexico was torn by revolution and several factions struggled to attain undisputed control of the land. Jason sailed for the troubled area 4 September 1913 to fuel American ships stationed there. She returned to Norfolk 13 October to prepare for fueling operations in the Mediterranean.^[2]

Jason departed Norfolk 25 October, fueled ships off Italy and France, and returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, 18 December. Following further fueling duties during winter maneuvers in the Caribbean and Mexican waters in early 1914, she embarked refugees from Tuxpan, Mexico, in April and transported them to Louisiana. Later that year, Jason was once again involved in a humanitarian gesture as she sailed from New York 14 November, bearing Christmas gifts for the Mediterranean fleet and the people of Europe. The "Christmas Ship," as she was called, returned to Norfolk 15 March 1915.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jason_(AC-12)