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Civilian Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Craster Hall (ID 1486)



Call sign:
Love - Dog - Quack - Cast
Freighter:

  • Built in 1909 by William Hamilton and Co., Port Glasgow, Scotland for C. G. Dunn and Co., Ltd., Liverpool, England
  • Launched 4 February 1909
  • Completed in May 1909
  • Sold in 1914 to the United States Steel Products Co. of New York
  • Acquired by the Navy 25 April 1918
  • Delivered to the Navy 2 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Craster Hall (ID 1486), 9 May 1918
  • Decommissioned, 5 February 1919 and transferred to the United States Shipping Board the same day for return to her owner
  • Beached and wrecked 19 June 1927 after collision with the Imperial Oil tanker SS Reginolite off Talara Point, Peru.

    Specifications:

    Displacement 9,700 t.
    Length 392' 6"
    Beam 50'
    Draft 24'
    Speed 11 kts.
    Complement 62
    Armament: One 5"/51 mount and one 6-pounder
    Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,200hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.

    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Craster Hall 74k In port, prior to her Naval service, with the barge Whitehall in the foreground
    U.S. Navy photo NH 101401    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Craster Hall (No. 1486) was built in 1909 by William Hamilton and Co., Port Glasgow, Scotland; transferred to the Navy 25 April 1918 from the Shipping Board; and commissioned 9 May 1918, Lieutenant Commander H. L. Mortensen, USNRF, in command.

    Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Craster Hall made three transatlantic voyages from 25 May 1918 to 7 January 1919 carrying a total of 28,112 tons of cargo. She transported steel billets, mail, flat cars, Army trucks, engines and airplanes to Bordeaux and Verdon; Army supplies to Quiberon, St. Nazaire, and Nantes, and 353 horses to Paulliac. After completing her vital supply duty, Craster Hall was decommissioned 5 February 1919 and transferred to the Shipping Board for return to her owner the same day.

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