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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

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

S.S. Mauban (Philippine-American cargo ship, 1900).
Served as USS Mauban (No ID #) in 1918-19

The small 1210 gross ton cargo ship Mauban was completed in October 1900 by Campbeltown Shipbuilding Co. of Campbeltown, Scotland, for J. Samuel & Son of London but was almost immediately sold to the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas of Manila (also called the Tabacalera Steamship & Commercial Co.). Prior to World War I she operated in the tobacco, sugar, and alcohol trade along the Philippine coast and between the Philippines and Europe, particularly Spain. She was damaged in a collision on 20 November 1917 and put in to Cadiz for extensive repairs. While there the U.S. consul at Cadiz notified the captain that his ship had been requisitioned by the U.S. Shipping Board for use by General Pershing. She was later reassigned to the Navy for operation and was commissioned at Cardiff, Wales, on 3 October 1918.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Mauban operated under Army and Shipping Board accounts carrying supplies between British and French ports. She completed cargo runs in February 1919 and after loading sand ballast departed Cardiff on 18 February. She arrived at New York on 14 March and was decommissioned at Brooklyn on 11 April 1919 and delivered to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her former owners.

Mauban was returned to the Tabacalera Steamship Co. in June 1919 and resumed her prewar service. In 1927 she evacuated 25 Spanish nationals from Shanghai to Manila. On 27 December 1941 she was sunk in Manila Bay to prevent her from falling into Japanese hands. Refloated, she became the Japanese Manbo Maru. She was mined off Wadanomisaki on 12 May 1945.

This page features all available views of the cargo ship Mauban, which served as USS Mauban in 1918-19.

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

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Page made 16 August 2015