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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo #  NH 105259:  S.S. American Farmer circa 1939

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

S.S. American Farmer (American Passenger & Cargo Ship, 1920)
Originally USAT Ourcq (U.S. Army Transport, 1920).
Later renamed Ville de Liege

American Farmer, a 7555 gross ton passenger and cargo ship, was completed at Hog Island, Pennsylvania, in December 1920 as the U.S. Army Transport Ourcq. The Army soon found her surplus to its needs and laid her up at Norfolk in December 1921. In late 1923 and early 1924 she and four sisters of the "Hog Island Type B" design were transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board, given names beginning with American, and placed in commercial service between New York and London, England, as freighters with berths for 16 passengers. Their passenger accomodations were increased to around 90 persons in 1926. American Farmer (ex-Ourcq) remained in operation between the United States and London until laid up following the September 1939 outbreak of World War II and the November 1939 Neutrality Act, which prohibited American flag merchant ships from calling at belligerent ports. In early 1940 her American owners set up a Belgian shipping company, and the eight idle American ships transferred to it were placed under Belgian registry and resumed operation with new names. American Farmer returned to sea in March 1940 as Ville de Liege. The hazards of war soon caught up with her. She was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-52 in April 1941 while in a convoy east of Greenland.

This page features the only views we have concerning USAT Ourcq, S.S. American Farmer and S.S. Ville de Liege.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

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

Photo #: NH 105259

S.S. American Farmer

(American Passenger-Cargo Ship, 1920)

This ship was completed in 1920 as the U.S. Army transport Ourcq. In 1924 she became the American passenger and cargo ship American Farmer, and in early 1940 she was transferred to the Belgian flag and renamed Ville de Liege. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in April 1941 while in an convoy east of Greenland.
Note that the ship's paint scheme attempts to give this very square-cut vessel the illusion of a graceful sheer line. Note also the American flag on her side, probably a neutrality marking applied in 1939.

Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2007.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 480 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 105257

S.S. Ville de Liege

(American/Belgian Passenger-Cargo Ship, 1920)

This ship was completed in 1920 as the U.S. Army transport Ourcq. In 1924 she became the American passenger and cargo ship American Farmer, and in early 1940 she was transferred to the Belgian flag and renamed Ville de Liege. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in April 1941 while in an convoy east of Greenland.

Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2007.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 510 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 24 May 2008