USS Pensacola (AK-7)

Last updated
SS Nicaria.jpg
At the Charleston, South Carolina, Navy Yard on 3 October 1917, five days before her commissioning. Formerly the German Nicaria, seized by the United States in April 1917, Pensacola was designated AK-7 in 1920.
History
Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
NameNicaria
NamesakeThe moth genus Nicaria
Builder Neptun Werft, Rostock, Germany
Launched18 August 1901
FateSeized by the US government, 8 May 1917, at Southport, North Carolina
USS Pensacola (ID 2078).jpg
USS Pensacola (ID 2078) moored pierside at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 28 June 1918.
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NamePensacola
Namesake Pensacola, Florida
Acquired9 June 1917
Commissioned8 October 1917, as USS Pensacola (SP-2078)
Decommissioned14 March 1925
Reclassified
  • 17 July 1920, as USS Pensacola (AK-7)
  • 26 June 1922, as USS Pensacola (AG-13)
Stricken14 March 1925
Identification
FateSold, 5 August 1925, to M. M. Davidson of Stockton, California
General characteristics [1]
Displacement9,821 long tons (9,979 t) normal
Length353 ft 11 in (107.87 m)
Beam51 ft (16 m)
Draft21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsionsteam
Speed9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Complement144 officers and enlisted
Armament

USS Pensacola (AK-7/AG-13) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy.

Pensacola was originally the German screw steamer Nicaria, launched in Rostock, Germany on 18 August 1901. She was seized by the U.S. government at Southport, North Carolina, on 8 May 1917. She was transferred to the United States Navy on 9 June 1917, and commissioned on 8 October 1917.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transport Service in January 1918, Pensacola carried supplies from the United States to French and British ports. Returning from Brest to Philadelphia on 2 December 1918, she steamed to New York and sailed for Turkey on 25 January 1919 with a cargo for the Syrian-Armenian Relief, arriving at Constantinople on 12 March. Following her return to the United States on 15 April, Pensacola carried passengers and cargo to bases in the Caribbean. Returning to Norfolk on 9 June 1919, she was reassigned to the Navy Trans-Pacific transport service.

She operated in the Pacific until becoming a station ship at Guam 15 March 1922. Classified AK-7 (Cargo Ship) on 17 July 1920, Pensacola was reclassified AG-13 (Miscellaneous Auxiliary) on 26 June 1922.

She decommissioned at Mare Island, California on 14 March 1925, was struck from the Navy Register the same day, and was sold to M. Davidson of Stockton, California, on 5 August 1925.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Aries</i> (AK-51) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

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 <i>Sirius</i> (AK-15) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Sirius (AK-15), was a cargo ship of the United States Navy. She was built in 1918 and 1919 by the American International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, Pennsylvania as SS Saluda. She was acquired from the War Shipping Board on 10 December 1921 and commissioned on 20 January 1922.

USS Vega (AK-17), was a Sirius-class cargo ship of the United States Navy, originally the Lebanon — a single-screw, steel-hulled Type 1022 freighter, built under a United States Shipping Board contract at Hog Island, Pennsylvania, by the American International Shipbuilding Co. Laid down on 8 July 1918, the ship was launched on 18 July 1919. Acquired by the Navy on 2 December 1921, she was renamed Vega and given the classification of AK-17. She fitted out for Navy service, and was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 December 1921.

USS <i>Hancock</i> (AP-3)

USS Hancock (AP-3) was a transport ship in the United States Navy. Acquired by the Navy in 1902, she participated in World War I and a number of US military and diplomatic ventures prior to that. She was named for Founding Father John Hancock.

USS <i>Glacier</i> (AF-4) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

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 <i>Houston</i> (AK-1) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

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 <i>Newport News</i> (AK-3) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Newport News (AK-3) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

USS <i>Bath</i> (AK-4) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Bath (AK-4) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

USS <i>Gulfport</i> (AK-5) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Gulfport (AK-5) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

USS <i>Beaufort</i> (AK-6) German cargo ship captured by United States

USS Beaufort (AK-6) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

USS <i>Quincy</i> (AK-10) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Quincy (AK-10) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

SS <i>Great Northern</i> Passenger ship built in 1914

Great Northern was a passenger ship built at Philadelphia by William Cramp & Sons under supervision of the Great Northern Pacific Steam Ship Company for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company, itself a joint venture of the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway. Great Northern, along with sister ship Northern Pacific, were built to provide a passenger and freight link by sea between the northern transcontinental rail lines via the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway terminal at Astoria, Oregon and San Francisco beginning in spring of 1915.

USS <i>Henry T. Allen</i>

USS Henry T. Allen was a Harris class attack transport in service with the United States Army from 1940 to 1941. She was then transferred to the United States Navy where she served until 1946. She was scrapped in 1948. The ship was originally built as an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship in 1919 and operated in commercial service as Wenatchee and President Jefferson until being laid up in 1938.

USS <i>Aeolus</i> (ID-3005)

USS Aeolus (ID-3005), sometimes also spelled Æolus, was a United States Navy transport ship during World War I. She was formerly the North German Lloyd liner SS Grosser Kurfürst, also spelled Großer Kurfürst, launched in 1899 that sailed regularly between Bremen and New York. At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the United States and, when the U.S. entered the conflict in 1917, was seized and converted to a troop transport.

USS <i>U. S. Grant</i> Transport ship

USS U. S. Grant (AP-29) was a transport ship that saw service with the United States Navy in World War II. Originally a German ocean liner named König Wilhelm II, she was seized by the United States during the First World War and renamed USS Madawaska (ID-3011) in 1917 before being renamed USS U. S. Grant (AP-29) in 1922.

SS <i>Point Bonita</i>

SS Point Bonita was constructed in 1918 and launched 27 March 1918 after a hull being built for foreign owners at Albina Engine and Machine Works was requisitioned during World War I by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). The ship saw service as the Navy transport USS Point Bonita, assigned Identification Number 3496, from 7 October 1918 to 7 April 1919, was returned to the USSB and saw civilian service with several commercial companies as San Pedro and Oliver Olson before again seeing service in World War II as USS Camanga (AG-42). After return to commercial service as Oliver Olson the ship was wrecked at the entrance to Bandon harbor in Oregon.

USS <i>Taganak</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Taganak (AG-45) – also known as USS Lake Shore (ID-1792) – was a commercial cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I as Lake Shore. She was again reacquired during World War II as Taganak. During both wars she carried a variety of cargo for the Navy, including coal, ammunition, and general cargo. She survived both wars and was returned to civilian service after each war.

USS <i>Tuluran</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Tuluran (AG-46) was under construction for the British at the Toledo Shipbuilding Company as the cargo ship War Bayonet in 1917 when requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for World War I service. The ship was launched and completed as Lake Superior. The Navy acquired the ship from the USSB with assignment to the Naval Overseas Transport Service (NOTS) with the identification number ID-2995. The ship was returned to the USSB which sold the vessel in 1926. The ship was renamed C. D. Johnston III and that vessel operated out of Oregon until again sold and based in San Francisco. Another sale resulted in the vessel being renamed Anna Shafer which was acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in 1942 and allocated to the Navy for World War II service.

USS <i>West Elcasco</i> Naval cargo ship

USS West Elcasco (ID-3661) was a steel-hulled cargo ship which saw service as an auxiliary with the U.S. Navy in World War I and as an Army transport in World War II.

USS <i>Radnor</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Radnor (ID-3023) was a cargo ship and later troop transport that served with the United States Navy in 1918–19, during and shortly after World War I. The ship later went into merchant service, and in 1948 under Chinese ownership reportedly became the first all-Chinese ship to visit South America. Radnor was originally ordered as SS War Indian by a private company, but with U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917, she was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy for use as a cargo ship. Commissioned as USS Radnor (ID-3023) in May 1918, the ship spent the remainder of the war transporting cargoes for the Navy. After the war, USS Radnor was converted into a troop transport and used to repatriate U.S. troops home from France.

References

  1. "USS Pensacola (AK-7)". Navsource.org. Retrieved May 27, 2015.