The steamship Bussum, a 3683 gross ton freighter, was built in 1917 at Capelle-am-Ysel, The Netherlands, for commercial employment under the Dutch flag. She was seized at New York by the U.S. Government in March 1918 and transferred to the Navy. Though commissioned later in that month as Bussum (ID # 2468), she retained a civilian crew during her only voyage under Navy auspices, a trip to Puerto Rico between late March and mid-May. She was then decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board, which operated her during the next year.
On 19 July 1918 SS Bussum was one of three merchantmen which rescued survivors of the armored cruiser San Diego, which had been sunk off Fire Island, New York. Returned to her Dutch owners in May 1919, Bussum resumed a commercial career that lasted until she was sunk by the German submarine U-100 on 23 November 1940.
This page features the only view we have concerning the Dutch freighter Bussum, which had brief U.S. Navy service in 1918.
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.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 29 September 2004