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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Houston (AK-1)
ex
USS Houston (1917 - 1920)

1921 - International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - George - Zed NGZ

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp) - Yangtze Service Medal

Houston Class Cargo Ship:

Laid down in 1903, at Bremer Vulcan, Vegesack, Germany as SS Liebenfels

Launched, 11 April 1903

Laid up at the outbreak of WWI at Charleston, S.C. by the US Government in August 1914

Scuttled and abandoned by her crew at Charleston, 1 February 1917

Raised and entered Charleston Navy Yard for conversion to Naval service, 20 March 1917

Commissioned USS Houston, 3 July 1917, LCDR. W. H. Lee, USNRF in command

Designated (AK-1), 17 July 1920

Decommissioned, 23 March 1922

Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown

Merchant History

Sold, 27 September 1922, to Frank M. Warren of Portland, OR,

Renamed SS North King in 1923

Sold to Campania Diana de Vapores S.A., Panama, date unknown

Chartered by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) from Campania Diana de Vapores S.A., 30 December 1941, at New York, N.Y.

Transferred to United States Lines Co. for operation, 30 December 1941

Returned to Campania Diana de Vapores S.A., 26 February 1946, at New York, N.Y.

Final Disposition, sold to Japanese breakers Y. Yamamoto & Co., Osaka, Japan, scrapped in 1958

Specifications:
Displacement 4,525 t.(lt) 9,000 t.(fl)
Length 392'
Beam 50' 9"
Draft 25' 4"
Speed 10.5 kts.
Complement 144

Armament

four single 3"/50 guns

two machine guns

Propulsion

three single ended coal fired boilers

one 2,800hp vertical quadruple steam engine

single propeller

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Pre-WWI Merchant Service
0913000111	364k	Launching ceremonies of SS Liebenfels at Bremer Vulkan Shipyards, Bremen, Germany, 11 April 1903.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	404k	The DDG Hansa freighter SSLiebenfels after being scuttled by her German crew at Charleston, S.C. in 1917.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
USS Houston
	77k	*Houston, pictured in drydock at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., was the ex German SSLiebenfels* which had been seized by Customs Officials, 6 April 1917 US Navy photo # NR&L(M) 4263 from DANFS.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	75k	*Houston* at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C. View from Pier 314 (reinforced concrete dock), looking inland, 1 May 1917. The former German freighter SS Liebenfels is dry docked at left. She was commissioned as USS Houston in early July 1917. US Navy photo # NH 45245 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	124k	*Houston* in dry dock at Charleston Navy Yard, while undergoing conversion for Naval service, 6 May 1917. Note dredge in the right distance, and timber stores in the foreground. US Navy photo # NH 53576 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	275k	*Houston* at Charleston Navy Yard, 2 July 1917, following conversion from the ex-German freighter *Liebenfels. Note the station ship Hartford* is in the distance, beyond *Houston's bow. US Navy photo # NH 53580* from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	51k	USS Houston at Charleston, S.C., 18 April 1918, with Navy *Coal Barge No. 213* alongside. US Navy photo # NH 89407 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	158k	USS Houston moored in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 27 June 1918, one month before being designated (AK-1). Note the stump mast or kingpost on the poop. U.S. National Archives, RG-19-A-31. Photo No. Unknown and U.S. National Archives photo # 181-PS-821, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
0913000114	83k	USS Houston at anchor, circa 1918, location unknown.	David Wright
USS Houston (AK-1)
	185k	Broadside view of *USS Houston* (AK-1)** San Francisco Bay, circa 1922. US Navy photo.	Darryl Baker
	159k	Broadside view of *USS Houston* (AK-1)** in San Francisco Bay, circa 1922. US Navy photo.	Darryl Baker
Post WWII Merchant Service
	400k	The ex-DDG Hansa freighter SSLiebenfels in the port of Bremen, Germany in early 1957 as the Panama-flagged SS North King.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus