West Carnifax, a 6146 gross ton (12,211-tons displacement) freighter was built at San Pedro, California, as part of the World War I ship constrution program. Completed in late 1918, shortly after the conflict's end, she was turned over to the Navy at the end of the year and placed in commission at that time as USS West Carnifax (ID # 3812). Her maiden voyage, with a cargo of food, took her through the Panama Canal to the East Coast. In March 1919 she steamed across the Atlantic to Hamburg, Germany, where she unloaded before returning to the United States. West Carnifax was decommissioned in May 1919 and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board. In the later 1920s she was acquired by the Export Steamship company, which renamed her Exford. Later renamed Pan Royal by the Pan Atlantic Steamship Corporation, she was turned over to the War Shipping Administration in March 1942. The ship was sunk in collision while steaming in convoy on 9 February 1943. Eight crewmen lost their lives in this accident.
This page features the only views we have concerning the freighter West Carnifax, which was USS West Carnifax (ID # 3812) in 1918-1919.
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 October 2005