SSWest Cressey
 SSWest Cresseyin theManchester Ship Canal,date unknown
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SSWest Cressey |
| Owner | U.S. Shipping Board |
| Builder | Skinner & Eddy |
| Yard number | 36 (USSB #1925) |
| Launched | 21 September 1918[1] |
| Acquired | 17 December 1918 |
| Commissioned | 17 December 1918–13 May 1919 |
| In service |
|
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | Stranded offKamchatsky Cape,4 September 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Design 1013cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 5,600gross,8,800dwt |
| Displacement | 12,225 tons |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m) |
| Depth of hold | 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) |
| Installed power | 1 × verticaltriple expansion |
| Propulsion | Single propeller |
| Speed | 11 kn (20 km/h) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | None |
SSWest Cresseywas asteel-hulledcargo shipthat saw a brief period of service as anauxiliarywith theU.S. Navyin the aftermath ofWorld War I.
West Cresseywas built in 1918 for theUnited States Shipping Board's emergency wartime shipbuilding program. Delivered just too late to see service in the war, the ship was quickly commissioned into the Navy regardless, asUSSWest Cressey(ID-3813),but completed only two Navy missions—including afaminerelief mission toRomania—before decommissioning a few months later.
Through the 1920s, the ship operated in a commercial capacity as SSWest Cressey.She was laid up for much of the 1930s through lack of work, but eventually re-entered service in 1941 as mounting losses toGermanU-boatsin theBattle of the Atlantichad increased the demand for shipping.
Sold in 1943 to theSoviet Unionunderlend-lease,West Cresseywas renamedSSBriansk Iand laterSSTallin.The ship survived the war, but was lost in a storm offCape Kamchatskyin 1946.
Construction and design
[edit]West Cresseywas built inSeattle, Washingtonin 1918 by theSkinner & Eddy Corporation[2]—the 21st in a series of 24Design 1013cargo shipsbuilt by the company for theUSSB's emergency wartime shipbuilding program.[3]The first ship launched from the company's No. 2 Plant,West Cressey's launch took place on 21 September, just sixty days after the laying of her keel.[1]
West Cresseyhad a designdeadweight tonnageof 8,800 tons andgross register tonnageof 5,600.[4]She had an overall length of 423 feet 9 inches, a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 24 feet 2 inches.[5]The ship was powered by atriple expansionreciprocatingsteam engine,[2]driving a single screw propeller and delivering a speed of 11knots.[5]Since the ship was completed too late to see wartime service, she was not provided with any armament.[5]
Service history
[edit]U.S. Navy service, 1918-1919
[edit]West Cresseywas delivered to the Navy on 17 December 1918[3]and commissioned the same day at thePuget Sound Navy Yardfor operation with theNaval Overseas Transportation Service(NOTS) asUSSWest Cressey(ID-3813).[6]
West Cressey's first and only voyage to Europe under Navy command began in January 1919 when the ship loaded a cargo offlourbound forRomaniaas part of a postwar famine relief mission. Sailing for theeast coastof the U.S. on 12 January,West Cresseytransited thePanama Canaland arrived atNorfolk, Virginiaon 2 February. Here the ship was delayed for a few days for alterations and repairs, until departing for theMediterraneanon the 12th.[5]
Calling atGibraltaren route,West CresseyreachedConstantinople,Turkey,on 10 March and discharged her cargo. She then loaded a large quantity ofopiumto be used for medicinal purposes along with a cargo oftobaccofor the return journey to the U.S., departing 27 March. By 28 AprilWest Cresseywas back inNew York City.On 13 May 1919, she was decommissioned and returned to control of the U.S. Shipping Board, thus ending her brief career with the Navy.[5]
Merchant service
[edit]Following her decommission,West Cresseywas placed into mercantile service by the USSB asSSWest Cressey.Records of the ship's movements after this point are scarce. The vessel is known to have made a voyage fromRotterdam,theNetherlandstoNew York Cityin 1920 which indicates that she may have been engaged in regulartransatlanticservice.[7]By 1927, the ship was operating for the Texas Oceanic Line, making a voyage in December of that year fromGalveston, TexastoLiverpool, England.[8]With the onset of theGreat Depressionin 1929, the scale of international trade fell sharply and many ships were mothballed in this period due to lack of work,West Cresseyincluded. Laid up atNew Orleans[9]in the early 1930s, the USSB had ceased to maintain the vessel by 1933.[5]
Unlike many of her contemporaries however,West Cresseywas to escape the scrap merchants' yard, and following the outbreak ofWorld War IIin 1939, steadily mounting losses of merchant ships toU-boatsrevived the demand for shipping tonnage. In order to help meet this demand, the successor to the USSB, theMaritime Commission,in addition to its orders for new tonnage, implemented a reconditioning program for older ships previously laid up.West Cresseybecame one of the ships so reconditioned, and in March 1941 she was placed back into service with theGrace Linefor a monthly charter price of $16,486.[9][10]Following this revival of fortune,West Cresseyappears to have been employed for the next few months in a shuttle service betweenLos AngelesandHonolulu.[11][12]
On 20 August 1941 the ship was purchased by theWar Shipping Administration(WSA) and placed in service in Seattle, Washington operated by theAmerican Mail Lineacting as the WSA agent.[13]From 19 May until 13 July 1942 the ship was operating under control of the United States Army in theSouthwest Pacific Areawithout being assigned a local fleet X number.[14]
On 26 January 1943,West Cresseywas transferred at San Francisco to theSoviet Unionunderlend-lease,and renamedSSBriansk I.[13]Her activities are not known after this point, but in 1945 she was renamedSSTallin.Tallinsurvived the war, but was stranded and lost offCape Kamchatskyon 4 September 1946.[15]
References
[edit]- ^abPacific Marine Review,October 1918, p. 143, J. S. Hines.
- ^abWest Cressey,ellisisland.org.
- ^ab"General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards"Archived2009-04-22 at theWayback Machine,shipbuildinghistory.com.
- ^Skinner & Eddy, Seattle WAArchived2008-09-16 at theWayback Machine,shipbuildinghistory.com.
- ^abcdef"West Cressey",Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,Naval History and Heritage Command website.
- ^Silverstone, p. 234.
- ^.She eventually was commercially operated by Page & Jones, Inc. (Mobile, Al.)Ellis Island Ship Database - West Cressey,ellisislandrecords.org.
- ^Item details BT 26/842/85,nationalarchives.gov.uk.
- ^ab"Lines Bid On Four Ships: Maritime Commission's Laid-Up Fleet Is Source Of Vessels",New York Times,February 25, 1941 (subscription required).
- ^"Shipping News and Activities at Los Angeles Harbor",Los Angeles Times,March 2, 1941 (subscription required).
- ^"Other 12",Los Angeles Times,May 1, 1941 (subscription required).
- ^"Other 9",Los Angeles Times,July 13, 1941 (subscription required).
- ^abMaritime Administration."West Cressey".Ship History Database Vessel Status Card.U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration.Retrieved20 September2014.
- ^Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949).U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947.Washington, D. C.: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army. p. Appendix 30, p. 7.
- ^Silverstone, p. 169.
Bibliography
[edit]- Pacific Ports Inc. (1919):Pacific Ports Annual,Fifth Edition, 1919, pp. 64-65, 402-405, Pacific Ports Inc.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (2006):The New Navy, 1883-1922,Routledge,ISBN978-0-415-97871-2.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.
External links
[edit]- Arnold Hague Convoy Database,convoyweb.org.uk.(Click the "Ship Search" link and enterWest Cresseyfor a list of known convoys in which the ship participated).