US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # 19-N-49489, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
Wartime designation: Juniata IX-77
Sail Number:
Type: Gaff-rigged auxiliary schooner
Ex; Launched as Etak in 1930, Vega in 1938, Juniata (IX-77), 11 August 1942
LOA: 137’0″ / 42.00m – LOD: – LWL: – Beam: 28’2″ / 8.59m – Draft: 17’5″ / 5.31m – Displacement: 242 Tons – Sail Area: – Original Owner: Walter Graeme, his wife, Catherine (“Kate”) – Everit Macy Ladd. – Original Name: Etak – Year Launched: 1930 – Designed by: Cox & Stevens – Built by: Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Kiel, Germany – Hull Material: – Documentation or State Reg. No.:
Historical:
Te Vega is a two-masted, gaff-rigged auxiliary schooner. Originally launched as the Etak, she was designed by New York naval architects Cox & Stevens in 1929 for American businessman Walter Graeme Ladd and his wife, Catherine (“Kate”) Everit Macy Ladd. Etak (“Kate” spelled backwards) was built at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, Germany, and launched in 1930.
WWII service
USS Juniata (IX-77), an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Juniata River in Pennsylvania, which empties into the Susquehanna River. Her keel was laid down as Vega in 1930 by Krupp, of Kiel, Germany. She was purchased by the Navy from her owner, H. W. Rohl, of Los Angeles, California, in 1942. Delivered 20 July, she was placed in service 11 August 1942.
Juniata was assigned to the Western Sea Frontier and was based at San Francisco, California. She alternated with other ships on patrol on the great circle route to Hawaii, steaming to and from her station some 500 miles west of Eureka, California. Juniata was placed out of service at Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, on 1 January 1945, returned to the Maritime Commission, and sold to a private owner in June 1945.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Notable Guest, and Reunion Information):
Owner: (1930) Walter Graeme, his wife, Catherine (“Kate”) Everit Macy Ladd.
Owner: (1942) H. W. Rohl, of Los Angeles
Owner: (1942-1945) US Navy, Purchased by the US Navy from H. W. Rohl, Los Angeles, CA., 1 July 1942. Placed in service as Juniata (IX-77), 11 August 1942. Assigned to Commander Western Sea Frontier, 12 September 1942. Placed out of service, 1 January 1945 at Naval Station Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA. Struck from the Naval Register, 19 January 1945. Sold by the War Shipping Administration, 4 June 1945