USS West Point (ID-3254)

The first USS West Point (ID-3254) was a cargo ship of the United States Navy that served during World War I and its immediate aftermath.

For other ships with the same name, see USS West Point.
History
United States
Name: USS West Point
Namesake: West Point, New York
Builder: J. F. Duthie and Company, Portland, Oregon,[1] or Seattle, Washington[2]
Completed: January 1918
Acquired: 5 August 1918
Commissioned: 8 August 1918
Decommissioned: 24 April 1919
Fate: Returned to U.S. Shipping Board
Notes:
  • Operated as commercial cargo ship SS Westerner from 1919
  • Scrapped 1938
General characteristics
Type: Cargo ship
Displacement: 12,262 long tons (12,459 t)
Length: 423 ft 0 in (128.93 m)
Beam: 54 ft 0 in (16.46 m)
Draft: 24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Depth: 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
Propulsion: One 2,700-ihp (1.864-mW) triple-expansion steam engine
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 124
Armament:
  • 1 × 6-inch (152-mm) gun
  • 1 × 6-pounder (2.7 kg) gun

Construction and acquisition

West Point was laid down as the Design 1013 steel-hulled commercial cargo ship War Leopard by J. F. Duthie and Company in either Portland, Oregon,[1] or Seattle, Washington[2] (sources vary), for the United States Shipping Board. She was delivered to the Shipping Board in January 1918.[2]

On 5 August 1918, West Point was transferred to the U.S. Navy for World War I service. Assigned the naval registry identification number 3254, she was commissioned on 8 August 1918 as USS West Point (ID-3254) at Brooklyn, New York, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Horace A. Arnold, USNRF.[2]

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West Point departed New York City on 21 August 1918 bound for France with a cargo of 6,884 tons of general United States Army supplies. Arriving at Brest, France, on 7 September 1918, she moved to Pauillac the same day to discharge her cargo.

Making a return voyage to the United States, she arrived at New York City on 23 October 1918, loaded 5,532 tons of general U.S. Army supplies and departed on 4 November 1918 for Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France. During the crossing, the signing of the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918 ended the war.

Arriving at Le Verdon-sur-Mer on 23 November 1918, West Point unloaded and headed for the United States East Coast on 6 December 1918. She subsequently made one more voyage with cargo for Europe, departing Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 January 1919, unloading her cargo from 2 to 12 February 1919 at Brest, taking on 1,620 tons of steel rails, and reaching Newport News, Virginia, on 13 March 1919. Soon thereafter, she departed Newport News for Boston.

Decommissioning and disposal

West Point was decommissioned at Boston on 24 April 1919 and was transferred back to the U.S. Shipping Board as SS West Pont. She was scrapped in Hamburg, Germany in 1938.[2]

Notes
  1. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: West Point I
  2. NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive West Point (ID 3254)

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.