USS Berwyn

SS Berwyn photographed off the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard at Sparrows Point, Maryland, on 26 September 1918 at the time of her completion, two days before her acquisition by the United States Navy. She is painted in dazzle camouflage.
History
United States
Name	USS Berwyn
Namesake	Previous name (for Berwyn, Oklahoma, and Berwyn, Pennsylvania ) retained
Builder	Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Launched	17 August 1918
Completed	1918
Acquired	28 September 1918
Commissioned	28 September 1918
Decommissioned	10 May 1919
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Shipping Board Wrecked 6 September 1920
Notes	Operated commercially as SS Berwyn 1919–1920
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Displacement	10,570 tons
Length	391 ft 9.5 in (119.418 m)
Beam	52 ft (16 m)
Draft	24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion	One 2,500 triple expansion steam engine , one shaft
Speed	11 knots
Complement	58
Armament	1 × 5-inch (127-mm) gun 1 × 3-inch (76.2-mm) gun

USS Berwyn (ID-3565) was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919. She saw service in the final weeks of World War I, then entered commercial service in 1919 as SS Berwyn. She was wrecked in 1920.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Berwyn was built in 1918 as the commercial cargo ship SS Berwyn for the

After discharging her cargo at Nantes, Berwyn took on board a return cargo that included airplanes and ammunition. Underway again on the morning of 2 December 1918, she labored through heavy seas on the return passage, eventually making landfall off Cape Henry, Virginia, on the afternoon of 19 December 1918. Continuing then up the Chesapeake Bay, she reached Baltimore on 20 December 1918 and commenced unloading her cargo. While she was there, workmen removed her guns and gun platforms.

Shortly after loading a cargo of

Taking on board a return cargo of 1,224 tons of ammunition and 230 tons of steel rails, Berwyn departed Nantes on 14 February 1919. On 25 February 1919, while still on her voyage to the United States, she was transferred from the U.S. Army account to the U.S. Shipping Board account. Reaching Baltimore on 1 March 1919, she unloaded her cargo there before heading for Savannah, Georgia, on 8 March 1919. She stopped at Savannah from 11 to 15 March 1919, during which time she took on board 3,129 tons of cotton, and then got underway for Liverpool, England, on 16 March 1919.

After unloading her cargo alongside

Decommissioning and later career

Berwyn was

During the summer of 1919, SS Berwyn carried general cargo to Liverpool, arriving there on 16 June 1919, before returning to Hampton Roads on 19 August 1919. She then proceeded to Galveston, Texas, where she loaded another general cargo between 29 August and 7 September 1919. Berwyn returned to European waters that autumn, reaching Liverpool on 6 October 1919. She then steamed to Norfolk, Virginia, before returning to Galveston on 3 December 1919. On 18 December 1919 she departed Galveston bound for Norfolk, then got underway from Norfolk for France, reaching Le Havre on 7 February 1920. She was reported as still in port there on 7 March 1920.

The French American Line, Inc., purchased Berwyn later in 1920. She was wrecked on 6 September 1920 on the Khuriya Muriya Islands in the Arabian Sea at approximately 17°44′N 056°38′E / 17.733°N 56.633°E / 17.733; 56.633 (SS Berwyn).

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: Civilian Ships: S.S. Berwyn (American Freighter, 1918). Served as USS Berwyn (ID # 3565) in 1918-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Berwyn (ID 3565)