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Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Vittorio Emmanuele III (ID 3095)

Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 as Dungeness by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Co., Seattle, WA
  • Renamed Vittorio Emmanuele III by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) prior to launching
  • Launched 24 May 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 27 June 1918
  • Commissioned USS Vittorio Emmanuele III (ID 3095), 28 June 1918 at Seattle, WA
  • Decommissioned 4 April 1919 at Philadelphia, PA, struck from the Naval Register and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Sold in 1920 to G. E. Marsden; Renamed Vitorlock sometime after 1939
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 10,820 t.
  • Length 396'
  • Beam 53' 9"
  • Draft 23' 9"
  • Depth of hold 29' 3"
  • Speed 10.5 kts.
  • Complement 52
  • Armament: One 5"/51 and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,100hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Vittorio Emmanuele III 101k Photographed just after she was launched by the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Company, Seattle, Washington, 24 May 1918
    U.S. Navy Photo NH 65032-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR William A. Carleton, USNRF28 June 1918
    02LT William J. Howell, USNRF1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Vittorio Emmanuele III (Id. No. 3095), a cargo steamer constructed in 1918 by the Seattle Construction & Drydock Co., was taken over by the Navy from the United States Shipping Board on 27 June 1918 and commissioned at Seattle, Wash., on 28 June 1918 Lt. Comdr. William A. Carleton, USNRF, in command.

    Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), Vittorio Emmanuele III was refitted for naval service at Seattle. She departed that port on 6 July and set a course for Africa, Chile. She arrived at her destination on 30 July and loaded a cargo of nitrates. On 18 August, she stood out of Africa bound, via the Panama Canal, to Norfolk. The cargo ship entered Hampton Roads late in the month. At Norfolk she loaded an Army cargo and, on 28 September, returned to sea, bound for New York and a rendezvous with a convoy bound for Europe. On 30 September, she departed New York with the convoy. The ship arrived in Brest, France, on 15 October and discharged her cargo. She then took on ballast and, on 3 November set sail for home. After a coaling stop at Bermuda on 22 November, the cargo ship arrived back in Norfolk on the 28th. On 1 December, she got underway for Philadelphia, where she loaded another Army cargo. Vittorio Emmanuele III stood out of Philadelphia on 15 December and arrived in Quiberon, France, on 4 January 1919. After unloading her cargo at Quiberon, she moved to Brest where she loaded a return cargo. On 9 February, she headed back to the United States. The ship entered Philadelphia on 7 March, unloaded her cargo, and began preparations for decommissioning. Vittorio Emmanuele III was placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 4 April 1919, and she was returned to the United States Shipping Board. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 4 April also. Sold by the United States Shipping Board to G. E. Marsden sometime early in the 1920's, she operated in mercantile service-first as SS Vittorio Emmanuele III and after 1939 as SS Vitorlock-until early in 1947. At that time, her name disappeared from the merchant ship registers.

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