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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo #  NH 105815:  S.S. Lake Traverse between 1925 and 1955

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

S.S. Lake Traverse (American Freighter, 1918)
Originally named War Centaur.
Served as USS Lake Traverse (ID # 2782) in 1918-1919

Lake Traverse, a 1993 gross ton (4880 tons displacement) freighter, was built at Duluth, Minnesota, in 1918 as part of the World War I emergency ship construction effort. She was ordered by the British as War Centaur but was requisitioned by the U.S. Shipping Board and renamed while in the early stages of construction. Completed at the end of April 1918, Lake Traverse was initially manned by the U. S. Shipping Board and sailed to Europe in convoy, carrying over 1,900 tons of Army general cargo. Once in European waters she initially operated on time charter in support of the Army. On 19 October 1918, while at Cardiff, Wales, she was taken over by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (N.O.T.S.) and commissioned as USS Lake Traverse (ID # 2782). The ship, homeported at Cardiff, then served in the Army coal trade, carrying coal from Wales to French ports. On 10 March 1919 she was assigned to the Food Administration and operated between French ports, Rotterdam, and Danzig. She was released from this work at Bordeaux, France, in late July 1919 and then returned to the United States. USS Lake Traverse was decommissioned and returned to the Shipping Board on 26 August 1919. After several years in reserve, from 1925 to 1955 she operated for various commercial owners under the name Lake Traverse, mostly on the Great Lakes, and finally foundered due to sprung plates near Tortuga Island in the Caribbean on 6 July 1955.

This page features the only views we have concerning the American freighter Lake Traverse, which was USS Lake Traverse (ID # 2782) 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.

Photo #: NH 105217

S.S. Lake Traverse
(American Freighter, 1918)

Probably photographed when inspected by the Ninth Naval District on 21 March 1918 while under construction at Duluth, Minnesota. The ship was completed on 30 April 1918 and served as USS Lake Traverse (ID # 2782) from 19 October 1918 to 26 August 1919.
The ship has received its pair of kingposts at the forward end of the superstructure but still lacks the mast that was stepped on the forecastle. She had a similar rig aft.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 360 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 105915

S.S. Lake Traverse
(American Freighter, 1918)

This ship, which served as USS Lake Traverse (ID # 2782) in 1918-1919, is shown during her long period of commercial service under the same name between 1925 and 1955.

Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 535 pixels

 


NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 11 September 2007
    New image added 5 January 2009