Federal, a 6868 gross ton (13,130 tons displacement) freighter, was built at Kearny, New Jersey, as part of the World War I shipbuilding effort. Completed on 11 November 1918, the day the Armistice ended the fighting, the new ship was turned over to the Navy and commissioned as USS Federal (ID # 3657) on 15 November. Operated by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, she made her maiden round-trip voyage between late November 1918 and late January 1919, carrying cargo to France and from there back to the United States. In March 1919 Federal sailed again with cargo for France and on her return voyage in April brought home over 500 Army medical personnel. On her third voyage, in May and June 1919, she transported hay and oats to Antwerp, Belgium, for the Northern Food Administration and brought a cargo of steel billets back to New York. USS Federal was decommissioned on 17 June 1919 and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board.
Federal remained in the hands of the U.S. Shipping Board until 1937, then became the British freighter Federlock. In December 1941, while on time charter to a Japanese ship operator, she was seized by that nation, becoming Hakusan Maru, and was reportedly lost in August 1942.
This page features the only view we have concerning USS Federal (ID # 3657) and the civilian freighter Federal of 1918.
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 5 August 2007