S.S. West Zula, a 6000 gross ton (12,287 tons displacement) freighter, was built by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at San Pedro, California as part of the World War I ship construction effort. She was turned over to the Navy upon completion in September 1918 and placed in commission as USS West Zula (ID # 3501). The ship's maiden voyage began in November of that year and took her to Chile to pick up a cargo of nitrates, which she carried to the U.S. East Coast by way of the Panama Canal. The rest of West Zula's Navy career was spent undergoing repairs at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City. Decommissioned in late February 1919, she was returned to the U.S. Shipping Board. After nearly a decade and a half in that agency's custody, West Zula was abandoned in 1933.
This page features the only views we have concerning the steamship West Zula, which served as USS West Zula (ID # 3501) 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 12 September 2006