Lake Mary, a 2292 gross ton (5230 tons displacement) freighter, was built at Ecorse, Michigan, in 1918 as part of the World War I emergency ship construction effort. She was ordered by the British as War Flute but was requisitioned by the U.S. Shipping Board and renamed before construction began. Completed in June 1918, Lake Mary was initially manned by the U. S. Shipping Board and sailed to Europe in convoy, carrying over 2,500 tons of Army general cargo. Once in Europe she was operated on time charter by General Pershing in support of the Army, but on 29 November 1918 was taken over by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (N.O.T.S.) at Cardiff, Wales and placed in commission as USS Lake Mary (ID # 4269). The ship then served in the Army coal trade, carrying coal from Wales to French ports. On 6 February 1919 she was assigned to the Food Administration and operated between French ports, Rotterdam, Danzig, and Newcastle until released from this service on 10 June. Departing Wales for the United States on 3 July and arriving at New York on 19 July, Lake Mary was decommissioned and returned to the Shipping Board on 26 July 1919. She was scrapped by the Ford Motor Company at Detroit in 1928.
This page features the only view we have concerning the American freighter Lake Mary, which was USS Lake Mary (ID # 4269) in 1918-1919.
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 11 September 2007