History | |
---|---|
German Empire | |
Name | Rheingraf |
Operator | Leonhardt and Blumberg |
Builder | Schiffswerft von Henry Koch AG, Lübeck, German Empire |
Launched | 24 February 1909 |
Renamed | Rudolph Blumberg |
Fate | Seized at Pensacola, Florida, and acquired by the Navy in April 1917 |
USS Beaufort (AK-6) Tied up at Berth G, Naval Operating Base Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 May 1925. | |
United States | |
Name | Beaufort |
Namesake | Beaufort, South Carolina |
Acquired | April 1917 |
Commissioned | 20 September 1917, USS Beaufort (ID 3008) |
Decommissioned | 23 December 1925 |
Reclassified | 17 July 1920, USS Beaufort (AK-6) |
Stricken | 23 December 1925 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Sold 22 October 1926, to a Norwegian Shipping Co., renamed SS Fjorden, foundered 12 April 1933 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Displacement | 1,769 long tons (1,797 t) (lt), 4,565 long tons (4,638 t) (fl) |
Length | 288 ft 10 in (88.04 m) |
Beam | 40 ft (12 m) |
Draft | 18 ft 4 in (5.59 m) |
Propulsion | system unknown |
Speed | 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) |
Complement | 92 |
Armament | four 3" guns |
USS Beaufort (AK-6) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.
The German steel-hulled collier SS Rudolph Blumberg (ex-SS Rheingraf) built in 1909 at Lübeck, Germany, was operating in the Gulf of Mexico, flying the house flag of Leonhardt and Blumberg, when she learned of the outbreak of hostilities in July 1914. She sought refuge at Pensacola, Florida.
With American entry into the global conflict and the accompanying need for auxiliary ships, SS Rudolph Blumberg was seized there by the U.S. Collector of the Port of Pensacola on 6 April 1917. Taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, to be fitted out for naval service, the ship was renamed Beaufort, given the identification number (Id. No.) 3008, and commissioned on 20 September 1917.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Beaufort resumed the occupation she had carried on under a different flag; she took on a cargo of coal at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and departed Staten Island, New York, on 25 October 1917 in a convoy bound for France. Upon reaching Europe, Beaufort joined the Cross Channel Service, Coal Trade, and carried her cargoes from Cardiff, Wales, to aid the Allied war effort.
While thus employed, Beaufort grounded 17 March 1918 on a rocky reef off Lorient, France. Fortunately, little hull damage resulted; and, two days later, the collier was again ready for sea.
Sailing from Cardiff on 6 February 1919, Beaufort loaded war material and munitions at Rosyth, Scotland, for return to the United States. She arrived at Hampton Roads on 3 April 1919, and began a tour of duty with the Atlantic Fleet Train, a predecessor of the Service Force. On 17 July 1920 when the Navy adopted the alphanumeric system of ship classification and identification, she was classified as a cargo ship and designated AK-6.
Beaufort's peacetime service included voyages between Norfolk, Virginia, and Key West, Florida, and ports in the West Indies transporting coal and supplies. On several occasions she sailed from the naval ammunition depot at St. Julien's Creek, Virginia, with discarded ammunition for dumping in the mid-Atlantic.
The withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Santo Domingo and a reduction in the number of marines in Haiti "considerably reduced" the "transportation requirements" to West Indian ports, so the Navy withdrew the ship from that service, and decommissioned her on 23 December 1925 at the Norfolk Navy Yard. Her name was struck from the Navy List the same day. The former Beaufort was sold on 22 October 1926 to Julius Levey of New York City, agent for a Norwegian Shipping Co., and was renamed SS Fjorden. She was reportedly lost, 12 April 1933 off Cheung Chau, Hong Kong. [2]
Beaufort's crew member were authorized the following medals:
The first USS Astoria (SP-2005/AK-8) was a steel-hulled, coal-burning steam cargo ship of the United States Navy.
The first USS Abarenda (AC-13/AG-14) was a collier in the service of the United States Navy during World War I.
USS Camden (AS-6) was the first ship of the United States Navy to bear the name Camden, after Camden, New Jersey the city that lies on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
USS Aries (AK-51) (1918–1952) was a United States Navy cargo ship built as Lake Geneva under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract in 1918 at Duluth, Minnesota, by the McDougall Duluth Shipbuilding Company, to augment American logistics capability during World War I. The freighter was delivered to the Navy at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 21 September 1918 and was placed in commission the following day for service in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. Aries was named for the constellation.
USS Cetus (AK-77) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the US Navy in World War II. Named after the equatorial constellation Cetus, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.
USS Ajax (AC-14/AG-15) was a collier in the United States Navy. Originally she retained her previous name of Scindia, and was renamed for the mythical Ajax in 1901. In 1921, she became a receiving ship and was redesignated AC-14. She was reclassified as a seaplane tender and given the hull designator AG-15 in 1924.
USS Salem (CM-11) was a commercial cargo ship, that served as a minelayer and then net laying ship of the United States Navy during World War II.
USS Glacier (AF-4) was a Glacier-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for use in the Spanish–American War. She served again during World War I in the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean, delivering general goods and ammunition to American Expeditionary Force troops in Europe.
USS Houston (AK-1) was a cargo ship that was acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I. During World War II, she served as a commercial cargo ship under charter to the United States Lines by the War Shipping Administration.
USS Newport News (AK-3) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.
USS Gulfport (AK-5) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.
USS Quincy (AK-10) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.
USS Eridanus (AK-92) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II and manned by a US Coast Guard crew. She was named after the constellation Eridanus. She was responsible for delivering goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Allegan (AK-225) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Blount (AK-163) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Hidalgo (AK-189) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the U.S. Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was declared excess-to-needs and returned to the U.S. Maritime Commission.
USNS Sgt. Jack J. Pendleton was a Lt. James E. Robinson-class cargo ship constructed during World War II as a Victory ship and named the SS Mandan Victory. The Mandan Victory was placed into service by the War Shipping Administration's Emergency Shipbuilding program under cognizance of the U.S. Maritime Commission.
USS Carolinian (ID-1445) was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.
USS Kerowlee was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.
USS Marcellus was an iron schooner-rigged collier United States Navy Auxiliary ship in service with the United States Navy from 1898 to 1910. She participated in the U.S. Navy's first efforts in coaling warships while underway at sea. She was rammed by a commercial steamer in the early morning hours of 9 August 1910 and sank that afternoon without loss of life.