War Castle, a 2003 gross ton steam cargo ship, was built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1917. She was renamed Lake Ontario by the United States Shipping Board soon after completion, and in December 1917 was taken over by the Navy. Commissioned as USS Lake Ontario (ID # 2992) in February 1918, she carried fuel to Tampico, Mexico, on her maiden voyage. During the spring of 1918, the ship crossed the Atlantic to Scotland with a cargo of fuel. From June into December, Lake Ontario completed three more trans-Atlantic trips, transporting mines for use in the North Sea anti-submarine mine barrier. Her last Navy voyage was made to Bermuda, after which USS Lake Ontario was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board in February 1919. She was sold for scrapping in 1926.
This page features our only view of the cargo ship War Castle, which served as USS Lake Ontario in 1918-19.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 23 October 2001