Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 52018:  USS John B. Hinton at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 18 August 1917

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

USS Western Chief (ID # 3161), 1918-1919.
Originally S.S. Marne. Later named Western Chief (American Freighter, 1918)

USS Western Chief, a 12,185 ton (displacement) cargo ship, was built in 1918 at Portland, Oregon as a 5759 gross ton civilian freighter. Originally ordered on French account as S.S. Marne, she was renamed Western Chief while under construction. The ship was taken over by the Navy upon completion and placed in commission in early July 1918. On her maiden voyage, she took a cargo of flour from the West Coast to New York. Western Chief made one trip to and from France during August-October 1918 and had begun another when the 11 November Armistice brought World War I's fighting to an end. After completing that voyage she made two more, calling at ports in France, England, Holland, Denmark and Poland. Decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board in July 1919, Western Chief entered commercial service. During World War II she worked on behalf of the British Government and was torpedoed and sunk south of Iceland by the Italian submarine Emo on 14 March 1941.

This page features the only view we have concerning USS Western Chief (ID # 3161).


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 107037

USS Western Chief
(ID # 3161)

In a European port, 1919.
Note the canal barges alongside the ship and in the foreground.
The original photograph is printed on post card stock.

Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 93KB; 900 x 595 pixels

 


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 may 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 31 January 2011