USS Frederick Luckenbach (1888)

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Name: USS Frederick Luckenbach
Namesake: Previous name retained
Builder: J. Readhead and Company, South Shields, England
Completed: 1888
Acquired: 2 October 1918
Commissioned: 5 October 1918
Decommissioned: 7 May 1919
Fate: Returned to owner 1919
Notes: Served as commercial cargo ship SS Charters Towers, SS San Mateo, and SS Frederick Luckenbach 1888-1918
General characteristics
Type: Cargo ship
Displacement: 2,903 gross tons
Length: 317 ft 6 in (96.77 m) between perpendiculars
Beam: 40 ft 2 in (12.24 m)
Propulsion: Steam engine
Speed: 10 knots
Complement: 42
Armament: 2 x 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) guns

USS Frederick Luckenbach was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

Frederick Luckenbach was built as a commercial cargo ship in 1888 at South Shields, England, by J. Readhead and Company. She operated under the names SS Charters Towers and SS San Mateo, and by the time the U.S. Navy acquired her at Cardiff, Wales, for World War I service on 2 October 1918 she was named SS Frederick Luckenbach. On 5 October 1918 she was commissioned as USS Frederick Luckenbach with Lieutenant Commander H. A. Lewell, USNRF, in command.

Frederick Luckenbach carried coal for use by the United States Army from Cardiff and Belfast, Ireland, to French ports until 20 March 1919, when she sailed from Cardiff for New York City. She was decommissioned at New York on 7 May 1919 and returned to her owner.

Unlike most commercial ships commissioned into U.S. Navy service during World War I, Frederick Luckenbach never received a naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.).

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