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

Photo # 19-N-1109:  USS Siboney, 1918

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

WORLD WAR I ERA TRANSPORTS --
with Two Smokestacks and Three Masts

An identical pair of WWI era U.S. Navy transports had two low smokestacks and three masts (one short one forward, a tall signal mast between the stacks, and another short one aft). Under construction for commercial employment between New York and Cuba, Orizaba and Siboney were taken over for Naval service when completed in the spring of 1918. Compared to other two-stack transports, they were of modest size. Only the hospital ships Comfort and Mercy (built a decade earier for the same route) were smaller.

These ships' identical structural appearance is compounded, for identification purposes, by the very similar pattern camouflage they wore during 1918. To distinguish between them, it is essential to examine their photographs closely. If both were repainted overall grey (at present, we have only seen Orizaba in that color scheme), they may be even more difficult to tell apart during their later 1919 service.

This page features a table (with links to individual ships) of World War I era U.S. Navy transports with two smokestacks and three masts, plus one photograph of each ship in this group.


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.


Ships in this group:

TWO SHIPS -- TWO SMOKESTACKS and THREE MASTS:

  • Orizaba, USN 1918-1919 (completed 1918).
    7652 Gross Tons; Length 423.0'; Breadth 60.0'
  • Siboney, USN 1918-1919 (completed 1918).
    7652 Gross Tons; Length 423.0'; Breadth 60.0'

     USS Orizaba, circa April 1918:



    Picture Data

     USS Siboney, 1918-1919:

    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 23 March 2007