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Civilian Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Evansville (ID 2996)
ex-Lake Tahoe (ID 2996)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Fox - Cast
Freighter:

  • Built in 1917 as S. N. A. 4 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Detroit, MI
  • Renamed Lake Tahoe
  • Launched 1 August 1917
  • Delivered in November 1917
  • Acquired by the Navy 24 December 1917
  • Commissioned Lake Tahoe (ID 2996), 16 February 1918
  • Renamed Evansville 25 November 1918
  • Decommissioned, 23 August 1919 at Norfolk, VA and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Renamed Soriano in 1937
  • Scuttled in 1939 at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, Scotland
  • Scrapped in 1948.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 8,040 t.
  • Length 387' 3"
  • Beam 43' 9"
  • Draft 23'
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Complement 82
  • Armament: One 5"/40 and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,150hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    S. N. A. 4
    S. N. A. 4 86k Possibly photographed upon completion of her construction by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Detroit, Michigan, in 1917
    U.S. Navy photo NH 70461    		 Naval Historical Center
    S. N. A. 4 111k Possibly photographed when she was inspected by the Third Naval District on 28 December 1917
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99405
    USS Evansville (ID 2996)
    Evansville 128k c. 1919
    Ship's Officers and Crew posed on the ship's main deck, just forward of her bridge, and on her first superstructure deck. The reverse of the original print bears a hand-written date of 30 August 1919, a week after Evansville was decommissioned. Note the use of portable platforms to support the crewmen standing on either side of the hatch
    Panoramic photograph by Hughes and Estabrook, 251 W. 42nd St., New York City
    Donation of First Sergeant Gregory D. Casler, USMC, (Retired), 2004
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 102921    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR George Talmadge Rex, USNRF16 February 1918 - 1919
    02LCDR Hans R. Hansen, USNRF1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan and Wolfgang Hechler
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

    Evansville

    A city in Indiana.

    The first Evansville (No. 2996), a cargo ship, was built in 1917 by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Detroit, Mich., as Lake Tahoe, acquired by the Navy 24 December 1917, commissioned as Lake Tahoe 16 February 1918, Lieutenant Commander G. T. Rex, USNRF, in command; and renamed Evansville 25 November 1918.

    Between 25 February 1918 and 7 January 1919, Evansville made two voyages to France and two to the United Kingdom, carrying a variety of cargo which included tractors for the French Ministry of Agriculture, and returning with naval guns and stores no longer needed at Scottish bases.

    Evansville made two voyages from Hampton Roads to San Francisco from 15 February 1919 to 9 May, then was decommissioned 23 August 1919 at Norfolk, and returned to the Shipping Board.

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