West Point

West Point

(Id. No. 3254; dp. 12,459, 1. 423'0", b. 54'0", dph. 12969 d; )dr. 24'1" (mean), s. 10 k.; cgl. 124; a. 1 6",

The first West Point (Id. No. 3254)—a steel-hulled freighter built in 1918 at Portland, Oreg., by J. F. Duthie—was acquired by the Navy from the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on 5 August and commissioned at Brooklyn, N.Y., three days later, Lt. Comdr. Horace A. Arnold, USNRF, in command.

Laden with 6,884 tons of general cargo for the Army in France, West Point departed New York on 21 August for her first voyage under the aegis of the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS). She arrived at Brest on the 7th and pushed on for Paulliac the same day to unload her cargo. Returning to New York on 23 October, she loaded 5,532 tons of general Army supplies and sailed on 4 November for Verdon-sur-mer, France. During the crossing, the signing of the armistice on 11 November ended the World War.

Arriving at Verdon-sur-mer on 23 November, she unloaded and headed for the east coast of the United States on 6 December. The ship subsequently made one more voyage with cargo for Europe. She departed Boston on 18 January; unloaded her cargo from 2 to 12 February at Brest, took on 1,620 tons of steel rails, and reached Newport News, VA., on 13 March.

Shifting to Boston soon thereafter, West Point was decommissioned on 24 April 1919 and returned to the USSB.