SS West Gotomska
SS West Gotomska in dazzle camouflage paint, undergoing trials on 7 August 1918
| |
History | |
---|---|
Name | SS West Gotomska |
Owner | U.S. Shipping Board |
Builder | Skinner & Eddy |
Yard number | 27 (USSB #1180) |
Laid down | 16 May 1918 |
Launched | 17 July 1918 |
Acquired | 7 August 1918 |
Commissioned | 7 August 1918–6 June 1919 |
In service | 7 August 1918–1948? |
Renamed |
|
Fate | Scrapped at Philadelphia, 1948 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Design 1013 cargo ship |
Tonnage | 5,600 gross, 8,800 dwt |
Displacement | 12,225 tons |
Length |
|
Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m) |
Depth of hold | 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) |
Installed power | 1 × Curtis geared turbine |
Propulsion | Single propeller |
Speed | 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h) |
Complement |
|
Armament |
|
SS West Gotomska was a steel–hulled cargo ship built in 1918 as part of the World War I emergency wartime shipbuilding program organized by the United States Shipping Board.
West Gotomska was commissioned straight into the
With America's entry into World War II in December 1941, West Gotomska participated in the convoy system that kept open the vital supply lines to Britain and the Soviet Union during the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1942, West Gotomska became one of the few survivors of the disastrous Convoy PQ 17 to Russia.
In 1943, the ageing vessel was sold to Chilean interests, who renamed her SS Andalien. Andalien was scrapped in Philadelphia in 1948.
Construction and design
West Gotomska was built in
West Gotomska had a design deadweight tonnage of 8,800 tons and gross register tonnage of 5,600. She had an overall length of 423 feet 9 inches, a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 24 feet 2 inches.[4] The ship was powered by a Curtis geared turbine,[5] driving a single screw propeller and delivering a speed of 11 knots.[4]
Service history
West Gotomska was delivered at Seattle on 7 August 1918 and commissioned into the Navy the same day, as USS West Gotomska (ID-3322) for operation with the
USS West Gotomska commenced her first voyage for the Navy on 17 August when she sailed for
Having unloaded her cargo at Norfolk, West Gotomska shipped 5,182 tons of
Interwar years
Following her decommission, West Gotomska was returned to control of the USSB, which placed her into merchant service as SS West Gotomska. Through the 1920s, West Gotomska was employed in
World War II
In early 1941, at the height of the
By early 1942, West Gotomska had become part of the
Russian convoys
On 26 March, West Gotomska departed
On June 27, West Gotomska set out from Reykjavík bound for Russia once more, this time with
By November, West Gotomska was back in Britain, preparing for another voyage to Russia with Convoy JW 51A. The convoy departed
Return to the Americas
On 24 March 1943, West Gotomska set out from Liverpool bound for New York City with Convoy ON-175. However, the ship straggled, and was diverted to
West Gotomska was subsequently chartered to Cia Sud Americana of Chile and renamed SS Andalien. Her movements after this point are unknown, but she remained under charter to the Chilean firm until 1947, and was scrapped by Northern Metals of Philadelphia in 1948.[5][12]
References
- ^ a b Pacific Ports Annual, pp. 64-65.
- ^ "General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards" Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, shipbuildinghistory.com.
- ^ Hurley, p. 93. Note that Hurley does not specifically mention West Gotomska in his list of fastest-built ships, but at 83 calendar days the vessel would, according to Hurley's list, have been the sixth fastest-built ship of the war.
- ^ a b c d e "West Gotomska", Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command website.
- ^ a b Silverstone, p. 169.
- ^ Ellis Island Ship Database - West Gotomska, ellisislandrecords.org.
- ^ "Continued from page 29", Baltimore magazine, March 1923, p. 30.
- New York Times, July 6, 1941 (subscription required).
- New York Times, August 31, 1941 (subscription required).
- ^ a b c d e f Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Click on the "Ship Search" link and enter West Gotomska for a list of wartime convoys in which the ship is known to have participated.
- ^ "PQ 17: The Greatest Convoy Disaster", uboat.net.
- ^ "Steel Shipbuilding Under the U.S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921", The Belgian Shiplover, No. 89, September–October 1962, p. 479a. As reproduced at shipscribe.com.
Bibliography
- Hurley, Edward N. (1920): The New Merchant Marine, p. 39, The Century Co., New York.
- Pacific Ports Inc. (1919): Pacific Ports Annual, Fifth Edition, 1919, pp. 64–65, 402–405, Pacific Ports Inc.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (2006): The New Navy, 1883-1922, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-97871-2.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.