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Identification Numbered Civilian Ships Photo Archive

Clare (ID 2774)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Fox - Rush - Jig
Freighter/Collier:

  • Built in 1915 by the Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, MD
  • Acquired by the Navy 19 September 1918 and commissioned USS Clare (ID 2774) the same day
  • Decommissioned, struck from the Navy Register 24 February 1919 and transferred to the United States Shipping Board for return to her owners, the Bull Steam Ship Company of New York City
  • The Bull firm continued to operate Clare commercially for well over two more decades. On 20 May 1942, while off Cuba, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-103, with all members
    of her crew and Naval Armed Guard complement surviving.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 7,160 t.
  • Length 338'
  • Beam 46' 2"
  • Draft 21'
  • Speed 9 kts.
  • Complement 52
  • Armament: One 4"/50 mount and one 6-pounder
  • Propulsion: Two single ended and one auxiliary boiler, one 1,350hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Clare 63k In port, prior to her World War I era Naval service
    U.S. Navy photo NH 70464    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Clare (No. 2774), a collier, was built in 1915 by Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Md. transferred from the Shipping Board 19 September 1918; and commissioned the same day, Lieutenant Commander J. L. Blair, USNRF, in command.

    Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Clare made two voyages from New York to France carrying general cargo and ammunition for the Army between 26 September and 11 February 1919. Returning to Philadelphia Clare discharged her cargo and removed her armament, then proceeded to New York 22 February 1919. She was placed out of commission there 24 February 1919 and transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her owner.

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