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Photo # NH 42569:  USS Bridgeport at Brest, France, circa 1918

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Bridgeport (ID # 3009, later AD-10), 1917-1942.
Originally the German steamship Breslau (1901)

USS Bridgeport, a 7175-ton (displacement) destroyer tender and repair ship, was built in Germany in 1901 as the commercial steamship Breslau. When the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 made the high seas unsafe for German shipping, she took refuge in the United States. Seized at New Orleans, Louisiana, when the U.S. entered the conflict in April 1917, she was taken over by the U.S. Shipping Board. Soon transferred to the Navy, the ship was renamed Bridgeport in June 1917, while undergoing modification to suit her for Naval service.

Bridgeport was placed in commission in late August 1917, but required further work before she could be actively employed. Assigned the registry ID # 3009 during the war, she joined the Atlantic Fleet's Destroyer Force at the beginning of March 1918. Bridgeport assisted in the movement of smaller vessels to the Azores, and in August 1918 went to Brest, France, where she served for more than a year as a repair and supply ship. These duties continued after she returned to the U.S. in the Fall of 1919. When the Navy implemented its system of hull numbers in mid-1920, she was designated AD-10. In September 1920 she assisted in rescue efforts on the sunken submarine S-5. The ship was also employed during the first part of the 1920s as a flagship for destroyer squadrons operating along the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean. USS Bridgeport was decommissioned in early November 1924 and remained in reserve for nearly two decades. Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in February 1942, she was later taken over by the Army and became the hospital ship Larkspur and, in 1946, the transport Bridgeport.

This page features all the views we have of USS Bridgeport, and provides links to images of her while in U.S. Army service.

For other images, showing this ship while she was used by the U.S. Army, see:

  • USAT Bridgeport (1946). Previously the Army Hospital Ship Larkspur (1944-1946).


    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 56577

    USS Bridgeport (ID # 3009)


    At New York City, 1 October 1917.
    Previously the German merchant steamer Breslau, she was seized at New Orleans when the United States entered World War I. Renamed Bridgeport on 9 June 1917, after being turned over to the Navy, she was placed in commission on 25 August 1917.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 42569

    USS Bridgeport (ID # 3009)


    At Brest, France, circa 1918.
    USS Wainwright (Destroyer # 62) is tied up to her port side, and an unusual turret steamer is alongside to starboard.
    The Captain's gig of the French Naval School is under sail in the foreground.
    Photographed by Robert W. Neeser.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 540 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 73255

    USS Rambler (SP-211)


    View on the ship's fantail, showing her after 3"/50 gun and depth charges on racks and a "Y-gun" thrower, taken at Brest, France, 1918.
    USS Bridgeport (ID # 3009) is in the background, with two destroyers tied up to starboard.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1970.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 42571

    Brest, France


    Ships dressed with flags in Brest harbor, awaiting the arrival of President Woodrow Wilson, in December 1918 or March 1919.
    USS Bridgeport (ID # 3009) is at left. USS Prometheus (Repair Ship # 3) is in the center, with tugs alongside. Two U.S. Navy destroyers, another tug, and the Italian cruiser Libia are in the center and right distance. In the right-center foreground are two "Menhaden Fisherman" minesweepers, one wearing the numeral "5". Tugs may include USS Osceola and two units of the Allegheny class.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106390

    USS Bridgeport
    (ID # 3009, later AD-10)

    In port, circa 1918-1919.
    The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 510 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 90100

    USS Bridgeport (AD-10)


    Off New York City in May 1921.

    Collection of Lieutenant Commander Waldo B. McLeod.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 370 pixels

     


    USS Bridgeport is seen in the background of the following view of another ship:

    Photo #: NH 45949

    USS Mohave (AT-15)


    At the Boston Navy Yard, circa 1924.
    USS Bridgeport (AD-10) and USS Constitution are in the background.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     


    For other images, showing this ship while she was used by the U.S. Army, see:

  • USAT Bridgeport (1946). Previously the Army Hospital Ship Larkspur (1944-1946).


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 24 May 2003
    New image added 16 February 2009