USS Hickman

USS Hickman (ID-3554), probably at the time of her completion and delivery to the United States Navy in mid-November 1918. She is painted in dazzle camouflage.
History
United States
Name	USS Hickman
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Standard Steamboat Company [1] or Standard Steamship Company, [2] New York City
Launched	10 July 1918
Completed	14 November 1918
Acquired	16 November 1918
Commissioned	16 November 1918
Decommissioned	5 March 1919
Fate	Transferred to United States Shipping Board 1919
Notes	In Shipping Board custody as SS Hickman 1919-1932 Scrapped 1932
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	5,121 Gross register tons
Displacement	10,562 tons (normal)
Length	377 ft (115 m)
Beam	52 ft (16 m)
Draft	23 ft 10 in (7.26 m)
Propulsion	One 2,500-indicated horsepower (1.864-megawatt) steam engine, one shaft
Speed	10.5 knots
Complement	90

USS Hickman (ID-3554) was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Hickman was built in 1918 as the commercial cargo ship SS Hickman for the United States Shipping Board by the Standard Steamboat Company ^[3] or Standard Steamship Company ^[4] at Shooters Island, New York. She was completed on 14 November 1918, three days after the 11 November 1918 Armistice with Germany brought World War I to an end. On 16 November 1918, the Shipping Board transferred her to the U.S. Navy, which assigned her the naval registry identification number 3554 and commissioned her the same day at Shooters Island as USS Hickman (ID-3554).

Operational history

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Hickman loaded cargo at New York City and departed for France before the end of November 1918, but was forced to turn back due to boiler and steering problems. After repairs, she once again departed New York on 7 December 1918. She arrived at La Pallice Roads in France on 22 December 1918 after a rough transatlantic crossing during which she lost one of her crew overboard. She unloaded cargo at La Pallice and, after taking on a few passengers bound for the United States and some United States Army cargo, got underway on 27 January 1919 and arrived at New York City on 17 February 1919 after an even rougher passage during which winds she encountered in the North Atlantic Ocean reached hurricane force.

At New York, Hickman received orders to load another cargo, but these orders were cancelled and she instead was selected for decommissioning.

Decommissioning and disposal

Hickman was decommissioned at New York City on 5 March 1919, and the Navy returned her to the U.S. Shipping Board. Once again SS Hickman, she remained in the custody of the Shipping Board until she was scrapped in 1932.

Notes

1. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h6/hickman.htm.
2. NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Hickman (ID 3554).
3. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h6/hickman.htm.
4. NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Hickman (ID 3554).

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Hickman (ID # 3554), 1918-1919. Originally, and later, S.S. Hickman (1918)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Hickman (ID 3554)