 USS CharlesatMare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, on 1 June 1918. The paint scheme is dazzle camouflage. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake |
|
| Builder | Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Launched | 30 January 1907 |
| Completed | 1907 |
| Acquired |
|
| Commissioned | 9 April 1918 |
| Decommissioned | 10 June 1920 |
| Fate |
|
| Notes | Served as commercial passenger shipSSHarvard 1907–1918 and 1920–1931 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Troop transport |
| Tonnage | 3,731[1] or 3,737[2] Gross register tons |
| Length | 403 ft (123 m) |
| Beam | 51 ft 3 in (15.62 m) |
| Draft | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine |
| Speed | 22knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Complement | 211 |
USS Charles (ID-1298) was a troop transport that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1920 and was briefly in commission as USS Harvard in 1918 and 1920. She was better known in her role as passenger liner SS Harvard, one of the premier West Coast steamships operated by the Los Angeles Steamship Company.
The passenger ship SS Harvard was built in 1907 for the Metropolitan Steamship Company as Yard No. 334 by the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine WorksatChester, Pennsylvania, following her sister-ship Yale. She was launched on 30 January 1907 and entered service the following month.[3]
Harvard'sregistered length was 376.0 ft (114.6 m), her beam was 61.0 ft (18.6 m) and her depth was 20.0 ft (6.1 m), and she was measured as 3,737 GRT and 2,817 NRT.[4] The ship was driven by triple screw propellers, each powered by a steam turbine made by W. & A. Fletcher CompanyofHoboken, New Jersey, which gave her a service speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h) knots.[3][4]
The U.S. Navy commandeered her on 21 March 1918 for World War I service, assigned her the registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1298, outfitted her for service as a troop transport at Mare Island Navy YardatVallejo, California, and commissioned her as USS Harvard (ID-1298) on 9 April 1918. On 11 April 1918 she was renamed USS Charles (ID-1298). The Navy later (on 28 August 1918) purchased Charles outright from her owners.
Departing Mare Island, Charles reached Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 26 June 1918. There she loaded troops and departed Newport News, Virginia, for Brest, France, on 10 July 1918. She arrived at Brest on 21 July 1918.
On 27 July 1918, Charles reported at Southampton, England, for duty as a ferry for troops crossing the English Channel. She made about 60 voyages between Southampton and Le HavreorBoulogne, France, carrying troops of all nationalities bound for action at the front during the war or for occupation duty after it ended, until 5 May 1919.
Her ferrying duties completed, Charles embarked passengers at Rotterdam in the Netherlands and at Brest for transportation to the United States, and on 15 June 1919, arrived at New York City. Her support of United States Army operations in Europe at an end, Charles arrived at the Philadelphia Navy YardatPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania on 24 July 1919, and was decommissioned there on 10 June 1920.
Reverting to her original name, Charles was renamed USS Harvard on 29 July 1920. She was considered for conversion into a seaplane tender, but this was never carried out, and instead she was sold on 14 October 1920.
She and her sister Yale were modernized for $8,000,000, before inaugurating the new overnight passenger and cargo ferry service for the Los Angeles Steamship Company between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1921 as high-speed luxury liners.
Once again SS Harvard resumed commercial service, however she was stranded and wrecked at Point Arguello, California, on 30 May 1931.[5]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.|
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1931
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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34°38′29.6″N 120°37′34.4″W / 34.641556°N 120.626222°W / 34.641556; -120.626222
