USS Zeppelin (1914)
| |
| Career | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Zeppelin |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan AG |
| Launched: | 1914 |
| Acquired: | by seizure, early 1919 |
| Commissioned: | 5 March 1919 |
| Decommissioned: | 25 November 1919 |
| Fate: |
Transferred to British command, 27 December 1919 Sank, 21 June 1934 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Troop transport |
| Displacement: | 21,753 long tons (22,102 t) |
| Length: | 500 ft (150 m) |
| Beam: | 67 ft 3 in (20.50 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Speed: | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) |
USS Zeppelin was a steamer constructed in 1914 by Bremer Vulkan at Bremen-Vegesack, Germany, for the North German Lloyd Line. SS Zeppelin was seized by US government officials at New York City soon after the country's entry into World War I and turned over to the Emergency Fleet Corps. The Navy did not acquire her until the spring of 1919, well after the end of the war. She was placed in commission at New York on 5 March 1919 under the name USS Zeppelin, Commander William W. Galbraith in command.
Service history
Assigned to the New York Division of the Transport Force USS Zeppelin made two round-trip voyages between the United States and Europe, returning 15,800 American soldiers back home. Her third voyage took her back to Europe. However, she did not return to the United States. Instead, she was decommissioned on 25 November 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board which, in turn, transferred her to the British on 27 December 1919.
Sale and loss
Acquired by the Orient Steam Navigation Company, in 1920, USS Zeppelin was renamed SS Ormuz and served under that name until the latter half of the 1920s. In 1927, Ormuz was bought back by North German Lloyd Line and renamed Dresden. She was wrecked on Norwegian coast in 1934 near Kopervik on Karmøy by Haugesund at position 59°12′07″N 05°19′08″E / 59.20194°N 5.31889°E with loss of four lives. The wreck still lies there, near the shore at 4-10 meters depth.
References
Template:NHC This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
