USSWest Mead
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSWest MeadorWestmead |
| Namesake | Previous name retained |
| Builder | Ames Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Seattle,Washington |
| Launched | 27 August 1918 |
| Completed | 1918 |
| Acquired | late October 1918 |
| Commissioned | 29 October 1918 |
| Decommissioned | 9 June 1919 |
| Stricken | 9 June 1919 |
| Fate | Transferred toU.S. Shipping Board9 June 1919 |
| Notes |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 5,620Gross register tons |
| Displacement | 12,175 long tons (12,370 t) |
| Length | 423 ft 9 in (129.16 m) |
| Beam | 54 ft 0 in (16.46 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 11.25 in (7.6010 m) mean |
| Depth of hold | 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) |
| Propulsion | One 2,500-indicated horsepower(1.864-megawatt)triple-expansionsteam engine,one shaft |
| Speed | 10.5knots(19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) |
| Complement | 113 |
| Armament | None |
USSWest Mead(ID-3548),also spelledWestmead,was aUnited States Navycargo shipin commission from 1918 to 1919.
Construction, acquisition, and commissioning
[edit]West Meadwaslaid downas the commercialsteel-hulled,single-screw,coal-burningsteamcargo ship SSWar Didofor theUnited States Shipping Boardby theAmes Shipbuilding and Drydock CompanyatSeattle,Washington; her name later was changed to SSWest MeadorWestmeadand she was completed in 1918. On 26 October 1918, the13th Naval DistrictinspectedWest Meadfor possible U.S. Navy service duringWorld War I.The Shipping Board transferred her to the U.S. Navy, the Navy assigned her the naval registry identification number 3550, and she wascommissionedon 29 October 1918 as USSWest MeadorWestmead(ID-3548).
Operational history
[edit]Assigned to theNaval Overseas Transportation Service,West Meadloaded 6,865tonsofflour,departed thePacific Northweston 15 November 1918 (four days after theArmistice with Germanyhad brought World War I to an end on 11 November 1918), transited thePanama Canal,and stopped atBalboain thePanama Canal Zone.She then proceeded from Balboa toNew York City,where she arrived on 14 December 1918. Shebunkeredand underwent repairs at New York.
West Meaddeparted New York on 24 December 1918 inconvoyfor theUnited Kingdomand arrived atFalmouth,England, on 9 January 1919. She moved toRotterdamin theNetherlandson 24 January 1919 and unloaded her cargo of flour there. She returned to theUnited Statesinballast,arriving at New York City on 3 March 1919.
West Meadnext proceeded from New York City toSavannah, Georgia,where she took on board a cargo ofcottonandlumber.She departed Savannah on 2 April 1919 bound for the United Kingdom, and reachedLiverpool,England, on 21 April 1919. She discharged her cargo there, then returned to Savannah, where she arrived on 7 June 1919.
Decommissioning and later career
[edit]West Meadwas bothdecommissionedand stricken from theNavy Liston 9 June 1919, and the Navy transferred her back to the U.S. Shipping Board the same day. She then operated commercially as SSWestmeadunder the ownership of the Shipping Board until she was laid up in the late 1920s.
In 1927, the Shipping Board soldWestmeadto theBabcock Steamship Companyof New York City, which returned her to service and renamed her SSWillanglo.In 1929, thePacific-Atlantic Steamship CompanyofPortland, Oregon,purchased her and renamed her SSSan Angela.
In response to the need caused byGermansubmarineactivity in theNorth Atlantic OceanagainstAlliedconvoy routes early inWorld War II,theBritishgovernment acquired a number of former U.S. Shipping Board ships under both American private and government ownership;San Angelawas among them. She was sold to the BritishMinistry of War Transportin 1940 and renamed SSEmpire Springbuck,and operated under the management ofW. A. Souter and CompanyofNewcastle-upon-Tyne,England.
Empire Springbuckwas on the second leg of a voyage fromCubatoLeith,Scotland, viaSydney,Nova Scotia,Canada, when the German submarineU-81torpedoedand sank her offCape Farewell,Greenland,on 9 September 1941.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Empire Springgbuck".Uboat.Retrieved19 February2012.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.- ID-3550West Meadat Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number: "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from ID # 3500 through ID # 3599Archived5 November 2012 at theWayback Machine
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Westmead (ID 3550)
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1941 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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- Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy
- World War I cargo ships of the United States
- Ships built in Seattle
- 1918 ships
- Standard World War I ships
- Steamships of the United States
- Merchant ships of the United States
- Empire ships
- Ministry of War Transport ships
- Steamships of the United Kingdom
- Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
- World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
- Maritime incidents in September 1941