Name USS West Point Completed January 1918 Commissioned 8 August 1918 Length 129 m Builder J. F. Duthie & Company | Namesake West Point, New York Acquired 5 August 1918 Decommissioned 24 April 1919 Weight 12,660 tons | |
The first USS West Point (ID-3254) was a cargo ship of the United States Navy that served during World War I and its immediate aftermath.
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Construction and acquisition
West Point was laid down as the Design 1013 steel-hulled commercial cargo ship SS West Point by J. F. Duthie and Company in either Portland, Oregon, or Seattle, Washington (sources vary), for the United States Shipping Board. She was delivered to the Shipping Board in January 1918.
On 5 August 1918, West Point was transferred to the U.S. Navy for World War I service. Assigned the naval registry identification number 3254, she was commissioned on 8 August 1918 as USS West Point (ID-3254) at Brooklyn, New York, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Horace A. Arnold, USNRF.
Navy career
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West Point departed New York City on 21 August 1918 bound for France with a cargo of 6,884 tons of general United States Army supplies. Arriving at Brest, France, on 7 September 1918, she moved to Pauillac the same day to discharge her cargo.
Making a return voyage to the United States, she arrived at New York City on 23 October 1918, loaded 5,532 tons of general U.S. Army supplies and departed on 4 November 1918 for Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France. During the crossing, the signing of the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918 ended the war.
Arriving at Le Verdon-sur-Mer on 23 November 1918, West Point unloaded and headed for the United States East Coast on 6 December 1918. She subsequently made one more voyage with cargo for Europe, departing Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 January 1919, unloading her cargo from 2 to 12 February 1919 at Brest, taking on 1,620 tons of steel rails, and reaching Newport News, Virginia, on 13 March 1919. Soon thereafter, she departed Newport News for Boston.
Decommissioning and disposal
West Point was decommissioned at Boston on 24 April 1919 and was transferred back to the U.S. Shipping Board as SS West Pont. She was scrapped in Hamburg, Germany in 1938.