.jpg) SSNantahala at anchor on 30 October 1918 during hersea trials. She is painted indazzle camouflage. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSNantahala |
| Namesake | Previous name retained |
| Builder | Western Pipe and Steel Company,San Francisco,California, |
| Launched | 4 July 1918 |
| Acquired | 16 November 1918 |
| Commissioned | 16 November 1918 |
| Decommissioned | 17 April 1919 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Design 1019cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 5,895 GRT |
| Displacement | 12,250 long tons (12,447 t) |
| Length | 427 ft (130 m) |
| Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine, one shaft |
| Speed | 11knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Complement | 72 |
The firstUSSNantahala (ID-3519) was aUnited States Navycargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.
Nantahala was constructed as the commercial single-screw cargo ship SSWautahala for theUnited States Shipping Board by theWestern Pipe and Steel Company atSan Francisco,California. Later renamed SSNantahala, she waslaunched on 4 July 1918. Transferred to the U.S. Navy on 16 November 1918, she was assigned the naval registry identification number 3519 andcommissioned the same day as USSNantahala (ID-3519).
Assigned to theNaval Overseas Transportation Service,Nantahala loaded a cargo offlour and departed theUnited States West Coast on 5 December 1918 bound forNew York City, where she arrived on 31 December 1918. Assigned to duty as a food relief ship, she got underway for theMediterranean Sea on 9 January 1919 and reachedFiume in mid-February 1919 with her cargo of flour and foodstuffs, which she delivered to help in the relief of starvation inEastern Europe in the aftermath ofWorld War I.
Nantahala operated in theAdriatic Sea and the central Mediterranean during the next month, then steamed toGibraltar, from which she left for New York City, where she arrived on 10 April 1919.
Nantahala wasdecommissioned at New York City on 17 April 1919, and the Navy returned her to the U.S. Shipping Board on the 30 April 1919. Once again SSNantahala, she remained in Shipping Board custody until scrapped atBaltimore,Maryland, in 1929.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.