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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Besoeki (ID 2534)

Freighter:

  • Built in 1901 by Blohm and Voss, Hamburg, Germany
  • Acquired by the Navy 21 March 1918
  • Commissioned USS Besoeki (ID 2534), 2 April 1918 at New York
  • Decommissioned 14 June 1919 at Rotterdam, Holland; struck from the Navy list and returned to her owner
  • Renamed Anfitrite in 1923
  • Discarded in 1930.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 8,414 t.
  • Length 358'
  • Beam 44' 5"
  • Draft 24' 4"
  • Depth of hold 28.5'
  • Speed 9 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Armament: One 5"/51 mount and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Two single-ended boilers, one 1,400hp verticle triple-expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Besoeki
    Besoeki 78k Photo from Shipscribe.com Robert Hurst
    Besoeki 159k Photographed prior to her World War I Navy service, possibly when she was inspected by the Third Naval District on 29 March 1918
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99346    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Besoeki (ID 2534)
    Besoeki 169k Ship's Officers and Crew, posed by the after end of her midships superstructure, 8 May 1919. Officer just to left of center (behind letters "S.S.") is Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Edwin H. Ballinger. Photographed by Hughes & Estabrook, 251 W. 42nd Street, New York City
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105156 from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Thomas Hillgrove, USNRF2 April 1918
    02LCDR Didrik M. Helle, USNRF1918 - 1919
    02LCDR Robert J. Edwards, USNRF1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Besoeki (ID 2534)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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