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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 82187:  USS Nanshan in 1919

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIP TYPES --

WORLD WAR I ERA COLLIERS --
of the Cargo Ship Type Acquired in 1898

Twelve of the U.S. Navy's WWI era colliers were regular cargo ships acquired in 1898 during the Spanish American war. This figure includes four former colliers of this type that had been reassigned to other functions prior to World War I. All twelve ships had one smokestack and two single masts. They fall into five groups based on their hull configurations.

This page features a table (with links to individual ships) of World War I era U.S. Navy colliers of the cargo ship type acquired in 1898, plus a photograph of each ship in this group.


Ships in this group:

TWELVE SHIPS, subdivided as shown below:


Click each ship name to access that ship's complete Online Library entry.

Click the small photographs to prompt a larger view of the same image, and the words "Picture Data" to access the Picture Data Sheet for that image.



TWO SHIPS -- Cargo ship type with flush decks

  • Brutus, USN 1898-1922 (Norwegian built, ex British S.S. Peter Jebsen, 1894).
    3077 Gross Tons; Length 321.5'; Breadth 41.7'
  • Lebanon, USN 1898-1922 (ex American S.S. Lebanon, 1894).
    1486 Gross Tons; Length 246.1'; Breadth 37.4'
    USS Lebanon served as a target towing and repair ship during World War I.

    .
     USS Brutus, 1898:

    Picture Data
     USS Lebanon:

    Picture Data
    .


    FOUR SHIPS -- Cargo ship type with flush decks except for a well forward. Hannibal and Leonidas were sisters.

  • Ajax (ex Scindia), USN 1898-1925 (British built, ex British S.S. Scindia, 1890).
    4535 Gross Tons; Length 375'; Breadth 45.9'
  • Hannibal, USN 1898-1945 (British built, ex British S.S. Joseph Holland, 1898).
    1785 Gross Tons; Length 264.1'; Breadth 39.4'
    USS Hannibal served as a surveying ship during World War I.
  • Leonidas, USN 1898-1922 (British built, ex British S.S. Elizabeth Holland, 1898).
    1802 Gross Tons; Length 264.8'; Breadth 39.4'
    USS Leonidas served as a surveying ship and later as a tender during World War I.
  • Pompey, USN 1898-1922 (British built, ex British S.S. Harlech, 1897).
    1282 Gross Tons; Length 235.2'; Breadth 34.4'
    USS Pompey served as a tender during World War I and was designated a supply ship in 1919.

     USS Scindia, circa 1899:

    Picture Data
     S.S. Hannibal, 1914:

    Picture Data
     USS Leonidas, 1914:

    Picture Data
    .
     USS Pompey:

    Picture Data
    .


    ONE SHIP -- Cargo ship type with a raised hull island amidships (bridge island)

  • Nero, USN 1898-1922 (British built, ex British S.S. Whitgift, 1895).
    2925 Gross Tons; Length 312'; Breadth 41'

    .
     USS Nero:

    Picture Data
    .


    TWO SHIPS -- Cargo ship type with raised hull islands forward and amidships

  • Saturn, USN 1898-1922 (Ex American S.S. Saturn, 1890).
    2268 Gross Tons; Length 274.9'; Breadth 40'

  • Sterling, USN 1898-1919 (British built, ex British S.S. Sterling, 1881).
    2016 Gross Tons; Length 274'; Breadth 37'

    .
     USS Saturn:

    Picture Data
     USS Sterling, 1900:

    Picture Data
    .


    THREE SHIPS -- Cargo ship type with three raised hull islands

  • Abarenda, USN 1898-1926 (British built, ex British S.S. Abarenda, 1892).
    3123 Gross Tons; Length 314'; Breadth 42'
  • Caesar, USN 1898-1922 (British built, ex British S.S. Kingtor, 1896).
    2738 Gross Tons; Length 310'; Breadth 44'
  • Nanshan, USN 1898-1922 (British built, ex British S.S. Nanshan, 1896).
    2200 Gross Tons; Length 285.1'; Breadth 39'

     USS Abarenda, 1898:

    Picture Data
     USS Caesar, 1898:

    Picture Data
     USS Nanshan, 1919:

    Picture Data


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


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    Page made 5 January 2008