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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Photo #  NH 102018:  Freighter Eagle, prior to her World War I service as USS Peerless


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

Eagle (American Freighter, 1917).
Later renamed Peerless and served as USS Peerless (ID # 1639) in 1918-1919

Eagle, a 6273 gross ton freighter, was built at San Francisco, California, in 1917. She was chartered by the U.S. Army in October 1917 for World War I service. In mid-1918 the ship was renamed Peerless and, in December of that year, was taken over by the Navy and placed in commission as USS Peerless (ID # 1639). She made one round-trip voyage to France while assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) and then, in February 1919, joined the Cruiser and Transport Force, with which she operated as a trans-Atlantic troop transport until mid-year. USS Peerless was decommissioned in September 1919, returned to her owner and again named Eagle. Commercially employed under that name for the next three decades, she was scrapped in 1949.

This page features all available views concerning the freighter Eagle of 1917, and USS Peerless (ID # 1639).


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

Photo #: NH 102108

Eagle
(American Freighter, 1917)

Photograph taken prior to her World War I Navy service.
Renamed Peerless on 5 August 1918, this freighter was acquired by the Navy and commissioned on 8 December 1918 as USS Peerless (ID # 1639). She was returned to her owner on 22 September 1919 and later was again named Eagle.

The original print is in National Archives' Record Group 19-LCM.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 540 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 106649

S.S. Eagle
(1917)

U.S. Navy Sailors on board the ship during World War I.
They are probably members of the gun crew assigned to Eagle in 1917-1918.
Renamed Peerless in mid-1918, this ship served as USS Peerless (ID # 1639) between December 1918 and September 1919.

Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 136KB; 900 x 710 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 106648

USS Peerless
(ID # 1639)

Members of the ship's crew, circa mid-1919.
This ship was completed as S.S. Eagle in 1917. Renamed Peerless in mid-1918, she was in U.S. Navy service between December 1918 and September 1919.

Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 111KB; 900 x 710 pixels

 


NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


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    Page made 27 August 2002
    Images added 22 December 2009