USS Western Hope

SS Western Hope just after launching at the J. F. Duthie and Company shipyard in Seattle, Washington, on 29 July 1918.
History
United States
Name	USS Western Hope
Builder	J. F. Duthie and Company, Seattle, Washington
Launched	29 July 1918
Completed	late September 1918
Acquired	late September 1918
Commissioned	25 September 1918
Decommissioned	5 May 1919
Stricken	5 May 1919
Fate	Returned to U.S. Shipping Board 5 May 1919
Notes	Operated as commercial cargo ship SS Western Hope 1919-1923 Laid up 1923 Abandoned early 1930s Scrapped 1932
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	5,750 Gross register tons
Displacement	12,170 tons
Length	423 ft 9 in (129.16 m)
Beam	54 ft 0 in (16.46 m)
Draft	24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Depth	29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
Propulsion	One 3,000-ihp (2.237-mW) steam engine, one shaft
Speed	9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Complement	102
Armament	none

The launching of SS Western Hope at the J. F. Duthie and Company shipyard in Seattle, Washington, on 29 July 1918.

USS Western Hope (ID-3771) was a cargo ship of the United States Navy that served during World War I and its immediate aftermath.`

Construction and acquisition

Western Hope was laid down as the steel-hulled, single screw Design 1013 commercial cargo ship SS War Ruby by J. F. Duthie and Company in Seattle, Washington, for the Cunard Line. Taken over by the United States Shipping Board and renamed SS Western Hope, she was launched on 29 July 1918 and completed late in September 1918. Upon her completion, the Shipping Board transferred her immediately to the U.S. Navy for use during World War I. The Navy assigned her the naval registry identification number 3771 and commissioned her at Seattle on 25 September 1918 as USS Western Hope (ID-3771).

Navy career

After loading a cargo of flour, Western Hope departed Seattle on 8 October 1918 and steamed via the Panama Canal to New York City, where she arrived on 7 November 1918, four days before the armistice with Germany that ended World War I. She departed New York on 17 November 1918 bound for Gibraltar and, upon arriving there, was routed to Italy on 7 December 1918. She developed engine trouble and paused for repairs at Taranto, Italy, before proceeding to Trieste, Italy, where she discharged her cargo of flour.

Western Hope departed Trieste on 16 March 1919 and steamed via the Strait of Gibraltar to Newport News, Virginia, where she arrived on 21 April 1919.

Decommissioning and disposal

Decommissioned at Newport News on 5 May 1919, Western Hope was simultaneously struck from the Navy list and transferred back to the U.S. Shipping Board.

Later career

Once again SS Western Hope, the ship operated commercially under Shipping Board control until laid up in 1923. After that, she never returned to service and was abandoned due to age and deterioration in the early 1930s. The Boston Iron and Metal Works Company of Baltimore, Maryland, scrapped her in 1932.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: S.S. Western Hope (American Freighter, 1918). Served as USS Western Hope (ID # 3771) in 1918-1919 at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2012-10-09)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Western Hope (ID 3771)