USS West Bridge, a 12,200-ton (displacement) cargo ship, was built in 1918 at Seattle, Washington, as the civilian freighter of the same name. The U.S. Navy took her over upon completion in May 1918 and almost immediately placed her in commission. Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, the ship's maiden voyage, to the East Coast with a cargo of flour in June and July 1918, was slowed by engine troubles, a problem common with World War I emergency ships. At the beginning of August West Bridge left New York as part of a convoy bound for France. While stopped in the eastern Atlantic on 15 August, due to another machinery breakdown, she was torpedoed twice by a German submarine. Though gravely damaged and abandoned by her crew, the ship was towed to Brest, France, where she was drydocked and received initial repairs. West Bridge did not return to duty until March 1919. She remained in Navy service until the beginning of December 1919, when she was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board. West Bridge appears to not have had any further active employment and was abandoned in 1928.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have related to USS West Bridge (ID # 2888) and to the civilian freighter West Bridge.
For other views concerning this ship, see:
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For other views concerning this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 3 December 2003
New image added 9 April 2008