WWI Ship Name Index   Return to WWI Auxiliaries.

UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Photo # NH 95758: SS Buenaventura underway, prior to World War I.


Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

S.S. Buenaventura (American Freighter, 1913).
Served as USS Buenaventura (ID # 1335) in 1918.
Name also spelled Buena Ventura

The steamship Buenaventura, a 4881 gross ton freighter, was built in 1913 at Howden-on-Tyne, England. During the first year of World War I she was employed by the U.S. Army and, in July 1918, was transferred to the Navy and placed in commission as USS Buenaventura, or Buena Ventura, (ID # 1335). Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, she carried cargo to France in August and began a return voyage to the U.S. in mid-September. In the evening of 16 September 1918, while steaming in convoy, she was hit by two torpedoes fired by the German submarine U-46. The fatally damaged USS Buenaventura soon sank, with the loss of eighteen lives.

This page features all available views concerning the freighter Buenaventura, which was USS Buenaventura (ID # 1335) in 1918.


Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 95758

S.S. Buenaventura (American Freighter, 1913)

Underway, prior to World War I.
This ship was placed in commission as USS Buenaventura (ID-1335) on 26 July 1918 and was torpedoed and sunk on 16 September 1918.
Spelled Buena Ventura by some sources, her name is painted on her bow as a single word in this photograph.

The original photograph is in Record Group 19-LCM in the National Archives.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 64591

S.S. Buenaventura (American Freighter, 1913)

In port, possibly when she was taken over by the Navy on 25 July 1918.
Placed in commission on 26 July 1918 as USS Buenaventura (ID-1335), this steamer was torpedoed and sunk on 16 September 1918.
Some sources render her name as Buena Ventura.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 560 pixels

 


Return to WWI Auxiliaries.

Page made 29 September 2004