West Elcasco, a 6087 gross ton cargo ship, was built at Seattle, Washington, as part of the World War I emergency merchant ship construction program. When completed in October 1918 she was taken over by the Navy and placed in commission as West Elcasco (ID # 3661). The steamer carried a cargo of flour to the U.S. East Coast on her maiden voyage. During December 1918 and January 1919 she transported food to Trieste and Turkey, returning to the U.S. in February and March. With another load of food for a war-torn and hungry Europe, she began her second trans-Atlantic voyage in April, this time to France. USS West Elcasco was decommissioned in mid-June 1919, soon after arriving back in the U.S., and transferred to the Shipping Board. The ship was sold in 1930 and began commercial operation. She became the U.S. Army's Major General Henry Gibbins in 1943 and retained that name until disposed of in the late 1940s.
This page features our only view of the freighter West Elcasco, which was USS West Elcasco (ID # 3661) 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 7 January 2004