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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Photo # NH 103542: SS Easterner in port, 1918


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

S.S. Easterner (Japanese-American Freighter, 1918).
Originally named Seifuku Maru # 20.
Was USS Easterner (ID # 3331) in 1918-1919

S.S. Seifuku Maru # 20, a 5806 gross ton (12,105-tons displacement) freighter built in 1918 by the Kawasaki Dockyard Company of Kobe, Japan, was delivered to the U.S. Shipping Board shortly after completion. Renamed Easterner, she steamed from the Pacific to New Orleans by way of the Panama Canal. In November 1918, one day after the 11 November Armistice brought World War I's combat to an end, she was transferred to the Navy and placed in commission as USS Easterner (ID # 3331). During the last month of 1918 and the first four months of 1919 the ship made two round-trip voyages to France. In mid-May 1919, about a week after the conclusion of the second of these trips, USS Easterner was decommissioned and returned to the Shipping Board.

This page features all available views concerning the freighter Easterner, which was USS Easterner (ID # 3331) in 1918-1919.


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

Photo #: 19-N-14832

S.S. Easterner (American Freighter, 1918)

Wearing pattern camouflage in late 1918.

Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-N box 7.

 
Photo #: NH 103542

S.S. Easterner (American Freighter, 1918)

In port, possibly on 29 August 1918, when she was inspected by the Twelfth Naval District. She is wearing pattern camouflage.
Built by the Kawasaki Dockyard Company of Kobe, Japan, as Seifuku Maru, this steamer was renamed Easterner when acquired by U.S. Shipping Board. The ship was transferred to the Navy on 12 November 1918 and placed in commission at that time as USS Easterner (ID # 3331). She was returned to the Shipping Board on 14 May 1919.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 42KB; 740 x 305 pixels

 


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Page made 28 February 2006