William N. Page

William N. Page

(Freighter: dp. 12,163; 1. 395'1", b. 55'0", dph. 34'5"
dr. 27'0"; s. 12.0 k.; cpl. 97; a. 1 4", 1 3")

William N. Page—a steel-hulled, single-screw steamship built under a shipping board contract in 1918 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Ship Building and Dry Dock Corp.—was taken over by the Navy for operation by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS); assigned Id. No. 3844, and simultaneously commissioned at Camden on 18 December 1918, Lt. H. L. Ertel, USNRF, in command.

After fitting out, William N. Page loaded general cargo and locomotives and departed New York on 11 January 1919. She arrived at Brest France on the 27th, unloaded her cargo, and sailed, in ballast, for Norfolk on 8 February.

Making arrival at her destination on the 27th, William N. Page loaded cargo and underwent voyage repairs before she sailed for La Pallice, France, on 23 March. Arriving there on 8 April, she found the harbor congested and shifted to Verdon sur-Mer the same day. There, she unloaded and took on board 995 tons of return Army cargo over ensuing days. She ultimately sailed for Norfolk on 10 May.

William N. Page concluded her last voyage for NOTS on 25 May when she arrived at Norfolk and commenced unloading. Six days later, on 31 May 1919, she was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list. Simultaneously returned to the Shipping Board, William N. Page remained in active merchant service for nearly three decades. Her successive owners and operators included the Mystic Steamship Co., the Koppers Coal Co., and Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates. She operated with the last-named firm from about 1943 until her name disappeared from period shipping registers after 1947.