USS Kermoor (1907)
.jpg) A painting by an unknown artist depicting USS Kermoor during her March 1919 voyage from Europe to the United States. | |
| Career (United States) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Kermoor |
| Namesake: | Previous name retained |
| Builder: | J. L. Thompson and Sons, Ltd., Sunderland, England[1] |
| Launched: | See note[2] |
| Completed: | 1907 |
| Acquired: | 1 November 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 1 November 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 May 1919 |
| Fate: | Transferred to United States Shipping Board on 5 May 1919 for simultaneous return to owner |
| Notes: |
In commercial service as SS Morawitz 1907-1917, as SS Kermoor 1917-1918 and 1919-1921, as SS Morawitz 1921-1927, and as SS Purley Oaks 1927-1936 Scrapped 1936 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | 4,795 gross tons |
| Displacement: | 3,106 tons |
| Length: | 378 ft (115 m) |
| Beam: | 52 ft 4 in (15.95 m) |
| Draft: | 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 9 knots |
| Complement: | 67 |
| Armament: | 1 x 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) gun |
USS Kermoor was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.
Contents
Construction, early career, acquisition, and commissioning
Kermoor was built in 1907 at Sunderland, England,[1] by J. L. Thompson and Sons, Ltd. as the Austro-Hungarian commercial cargo ship SS Morawitz. Upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she took refuge at Galveston, Texas, in the then-neutral United States to avpid capture or destruction by Allied forces. When the United States took control of all Central Powers merchant ships in its ports in April 1917 when it entered the war on the side of the Allies, it seized German ships and acquired all the Austro-Hungarian merchant ships in its own and other Western Hemisphere ports, although since there was no state of war with Austria-Hungary this was accomplished by purchase. Eight former Austro-Hungarian cargo ships thus became the property of the Kerr Navigation Company of New York City. Kerr Navigation gave them all names beginning with "Ker," SS Morawitz becoming SS Kermoor.
The United States Army took control of Kermoor on 14 March 1918 for World War I service. The U.S. Navy acquired her from the Army at Cardiff, Wales, on 1 November 1918 and commissioned her the same day as USS Kermoor with Lieutenant Commander T. Cartwright, USNRF, in command. Unlike most commercial ships commissioned into U.S. Navy service during World War I, Kermoor never received a naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.).
Operated by the Navy under Army account, Kermoor served out of Cardiff, carrying coal and military supplies between British and French ports until 1 March 1919.
Detached from this cross-English Channel service on 1 March 1919, Kermoor departed Queenstown, Ireland, for the United States on 6 March 1919 with a cargo of military stores. She reached Baltimore, Maryland, on 27 March 1919, then departed for New York City on 21 April 1919. She arrived there on 23 April 1919 and discharged her cargo.
Kermoor was decommissioned at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 5 May 1919 and transferred to the United States Shipping Board the same day for simultaneous return to the Kerr Navigation Company.
Later career
Kermoor resumed commercial operations as SS Kermoor. In 1921, she was transferred to the Hungarian flag and resumed the name SS Morawitz. She was transferred to the British flag and became SS Purley Oaks in 1927. She was scrapped at Rosyth, Scotland, in 1936.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The U.S. Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images (at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-k/kermoor.htm) claims the ship was built at Glasgow, Scotland
- ↑ The ship was built in 1907, so the Navsource Online claime (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/179951.htm) that she was launched on 25 July 1900 appears to be typographical error induced by copying from a different ship entry
References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images U.S. Navy Ships USS Kermoor (1918-1919) Previously the Austro-Hungarian freighter Morawitz (1907). Later named Kermoor, Morawitz, and Purley Oaks
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Kermoor
