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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Photo #  NH 100111:  SS Kermanshah, later USS Kermanshah, circa 1918

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-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

S.S. Kermanshah (American Freighter, 1910)
Originally the Austro-Hungarian steamship Himalaia.
Served as USS Kermanshah (ID # 1473) in 1918-1919.
Later S.S. Oceana, Nymphe, and Kalliopi.

Kermanshah, a 4948 gross ton freighter, was built at Newcastle, England, in 1910 as Himalaia for an Austro-Hungarian shipping firm. In August 1914, when the outbreak of World War I made the seas unsafe for Central Powers' shipping, she took refuge at New York and was laid up there. In 1917 the ship was purchased by the Kerr Navigation Co. of New York -- which also bought six other Austrian freighters after they were seized in the U.S. in April 1917 -- and was renamed Kermanshah. Taken over by the Navy at New York in August 1918 and placed in commission as USS Kermanshah (ID # 1473), the freighter loaded a cargo of Army supplies and departed New York during that month. She arrived at Bordeaux, France, in September, unloaded her cargo, and returned to New York. Kermanshah made a second round trip voyage between New York and Bordeaux in October and November, followed by a voyage to Quiberon and Nantes, France, in December 1918 and January 1919. USS Kermanshah was decommissioned in March 1919 and delivered to the U.S. Shipping Board for simultaneous return to her owners. The freighter was renamed Oceana in 1922, Nymphe in 1927, and Kalliopi in 1928. She was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-402 in the North Atlantic in February 1943.

This page features all available views concerning S.S. Himalaia, S.S. Kermanshah, USS Kermanshah (ID # 1473), and S.S. Oceana, Nymphe, and Kalliopi.


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

Photo #: NH 100111

S.S. Kermanshah
(Anglo-American Freighter, 1910)

In port, circa 1918.
Built in England in 1910 and previously named Himalaia, this ship served as USS Kermanshah (ID # 1473) during August 1918 - March 1919.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 44KB; 740 x 525 pixels

 



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