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UNITED STATES NAVY
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WORLD WAR I

Photo # NH 101999: SS War Castle. This ship was USS Lake Ontario in 1918-19


Online Library of Selected Images:
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War Castle (Cargo Ship, 1917).
Later renamed Lake Ontario. Served as USS Lake Ontario (ID # 2992) in 1918-19

War Castle, a 2003 gross ton steam cargo ship, was built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1917. She was renamed Lake Ontario by the United States Shipping Board soon after completion, and in December 1917 was taken over by the Navy. Commissioned as USS Lake Ontario (ID # 2992) in February 1918, she carried fuel to Tampico, Mexico, on her maiden voyage. During the spring of 1918, the ship crossed the Atlantic to Scotland with a cargo of fuel. From June into December, Lake Ontario completed three more trans-Atlantic trips, transporting mines for use in the North Sea anti-submarine mine barrier. Her last Navy voyage was made to Bermuda, after which USS Lake Ontario was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board in February 1919. She was sold for scrapping in 1926.

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


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

Photo #: None

War Castle (U.S. cargo ship, 1917)

Photographed on 24 November 1917 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was renamed Lake Ontario by the U.S. Shipping Board and was placed in commission on 19 February 1918 as USS Lake Ontario (ID# 2992).

Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-A-27.

 
Photo #: NH 101999

War Castle (U.S. cargo ship, 1917)

Photographed circa late 1917, with ice and snow in the vicinity. She was renamed Lake Ontario by the U.S. Shipping Board, acquired by the Navy on 20 December 1917, and placed in commission on 19 February 1918 as USS Lake Ontario (ID# 2992).
Note lifeboats on the dock, in the foreground.

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

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 475 pixels

 


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Page made 23 October 2001