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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo #  NH 102561:  SS Western Maid, photographed in August 1918


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

S.S. Western Maid (American Freighter, 1918).
Served as USS Western Maid (ID # 3703) in 1918-1919

Western Maid, a 12,185 ton (displacement) freighter, was built at Portland, Oregon, as part of the World War I merchant shipbuilding program. Completed in August 1918, she was immediately turned over to the Navy, which placed her in commission as USS Western Maid (ID # 3703). Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, she made one voyage prior to the November 1918 Armistice, taking flour to Chile and nitrates from there to New Orleans. Western Maid then carried general cargo to New York, followed by a trans-Atlantic trip to England and Holland during early 1919. Upon her return to the U.S. in March 1919, the ship was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board, which retained her until she was abandoned in 1933.

This page features our only view of the freighter Western Maid, which served as USS Western Maid (ID # 3703) 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.

Photo #: NH 102561

S.S. Western Maid
(American Freighter, 1918)

Photographed on 13 August 1918 by her builder, Northwest Steel Company, Portland, Oregon.
Originally ordered under the name Aisne and renamed Western Maid prior to completion, this ship was acquired by the Navy and placed in commission as USS Western Maid (ID # 3703) on 17 August 1918. She was returned to the U.S. Shipping Board on 20 March 1919.
Note her pattern camouflage.

The original print is in National Archives' Record Group 19-LCM.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 580 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 23 August 2004