USS Long Beach (AK-9)

USS Long Beach (AK-9) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Long Beach.

History
United Kingdom
Name: Yarrowdale
Builder: William Pickersgill & Sons, Sunderland, England
Launched: 5 October 1892
Renamed: Nicolas Castriotis, 1902
German Empire
Name: Hohenfelde
Acquired: 1912
Out of service: seized by the US Shipping Board, 6 April 1917, at Savannah, GA
USS Long Beach in drydock in the commercial port at Brest, France, 29 October 1918.
United States
Name: Long Beach
Namesake: Long Beach, California
Acquired: 6 April 1917
Commissioned: 20 December 1917, as USS Long Beach (ID-2136)
Decommissioned: 26 April 1921
Reclassified: 17 July 1920, USS Long Beach (AK-9)
Stricken: date unknown
Identification:
Fate: sold, 24 May 1922, to B. L. Stafford, New York City
General characteristics [1]
Type: Cargo ship
Displacement: 5,800 t (5,700 long tons)
Length: 330 ft (100 m)
Beam: 41 ft 11 in (12.78 m)
Draft: 22 ft (6.7 m)
Speed: 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph)
Complement: 104
Armament: 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun

Seizing a German freighter

The first Long Beach commissioned by the Navy, (No. 2136) was built as SS Yarrowdale by William Pickersgill & Sons, Sunderland, England, in 1892; renamed SS Nicolas Castriotis in 1902 and, while in German service, SS Hohenfelde in 1912; seized by USSB 6 April 1917 at Savannah, Georgia; acquired by the Navy the same day; and commissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, 20 December 1917, Lt. Comdr. E. Nelson, USNRF, in command.

World War I North Atlantic operations

Assigned to Train, special service, Long Beach delivered lumber from Jacksonville, Florida, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 26 December 1917 to 9 January 1918, then sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, 4 February for Dublin, Ireland, arriving 3 March to join the Army's Cross Channel Service. She carried coal from England and Ireland to French ports for use by American troops until 23 April 1919, when she cleared Dublin with a cargo of aviation material for Norfolk, arriving 13 May.

Post-war operations

After overhaul at Philadelphia, Long Beach joined NOTS, home ported at Norfolk. She carried coal to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Boston, Massachusetts; and Key West, Florida, with a voyage to the West Indies to supply marine detachments early in 1920, and again the next fall.

Decommissioning

She cleared Norfolk 19 December for Melville, Rhode Island, with coal, then entered Boston Navy Yard where she decommissioned 26 April 1921. On 24 May 1922 she was sold to Mr. B. L. Stafford of New York.

References
  1. "USS Long Beach (AK-9)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
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