SS Alaska prior to her U.S. Navy service. | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Alaska |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Completed | 1881 |
Acquired | 18 September 1918 |
Commissioned | 18 September 1918 |
Stricken | 10 January 1919 |
Fate | Returned to owner 10 January 1919 |
Notes | In commercial service 1881–1918 and from 1919 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Minesweeper |
Tonnage | 229 gross register tons |
Length | 141 ft 9 in (43.21 m) |
Beam | 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m) |
Draft | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) (aft) |
Propulsion | Steam engine |
Speed | 10 knots |
Complement | 27 |
USS Alaska (ID-3035) was a minesweeper that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.
Alaska was built as a steam-powered commercial fishing trawler in 1881 at Boothbay, Maine. The U.S. Navy chartered her for World War I service from the Fisheries Products Company of Wilmington, North Carolina, on 18 September 1918. She was assigned the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 3035 and commissioned the same day as USS Alaska at Charleston Navy Yard at Charleston, South Carolina.
Converted for service as a minesweeper, Alaska served in the Charleston area for the remainder of World War I and briefly thereafter as a minesweeper and patrol vessel.
The U.S. Navy returned Alaska to the Fisheries Products Company on 10 January 1919, and her name was stricken from the Navy Directory that same day.
Four ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Alaska in honor of the territory acquired by the United States from Russia in 1867 which later became the state of Alaska:
USS Teal (AM-23/AVP-5) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the task of removing naval mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. The ship entered service in 1918, was converted into a seaplane tender in the 1920s and took part in World War II, serving primarily in Alaskan waters. Following the war, the ship was decommissioned and sold in 1948. Teal was named after the teal, any of several small, short-necked, river ducks common to Europe and the Americas.
USS Montauk (SP-392) was a trawler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as a coastal minesweeper and was assigned to the 6th Naval District based at Charleston, South Carolina. During a gale off the southeast coast of the United States, she ran aground on Cumberland Island and was destroyed, with a loss of life of seven of her crew.
USS Utowana (SP-951) – also known as USS Victorine (SP-951) -- was a fishing trawler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. The Navy had planned to use her as a minesweeper based out of Kittery, Maine; however, Utowana spent most of her service time operating as an armed patrol craft, responsible for escorting Allied ships across the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean. She served through the war and the armistice before returning to the United States for decommissioning.
USS Anderton (SP-530), originally to have been USS Raymond J. Anderton (SP-530), was a patrol vessel and minesweeper that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.
USS Walter Adams (SP-400), or ID-400, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919.
The first USS Courtney (SP-375) was a patrol boat and minesweeper in commission in the United States Navy from 1917–1919.
Note: This ship should not be confused with two other World War I-era ships named USS Mystery.
The first USS Comber (SP-344) was a United States Navy minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.
USS Whitecap (SP-340) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
USS Spray (ID-2491) was a United States Navy trawler which served as a minesweeper and was in commission from 1918 to 1919.
USS Foam (ID-2496) was a United States Navy trawler which served as a minesweeper and was in commission from 1918 to 1919.
The second USS Ripple (ID-2439) was a United States Navy trawler which served as a minesweeper and was in commission from 1918 to 1919.
USS Surf (SP-341) was a minesweeper that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.
USS East Hampton (SP-556) was a United States Navy minesweeper, patrol vessel, and lightvessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
USS Cobra (SP-626) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919 that operated during World War I. She originally was constructed as a private motorboat. After the conclusion of her U.S. Navy career, she served as the fishery patrol vessel USFS Petrel for the United States Bureau of Fisheries from 1919 to 1934, operating in the waters of the Territory of Alaska.
USS Breakwater (SP-681) was a United States Navy patrol vessel, minesweeper, and tug in commission from 1917 to 1920.
The first USS Ibis (SP-3051), also listed as USS Ibis (ID-3051), was a United States Navy minesweeper in commission from 1918 to 1919.
USS Amagansett (SP-693) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1920.
The third USS Pilgrim (SP-1204) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.