Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Chesapeake (ID 3395)



Navy call sign:
George - Fox - Tare - Vice

Restorer call sign (1933):
William - Cast - Dog - Baker
Salvage Ship:

  • Built in 1900 by Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, DE for the New York and Baltimore Transportation Line
  • Acquired by the Navy 31 August 1918 and converted to a salvage ship at the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Co., New York
  • Commissioned USS Chesapeake (ID 3395), 22 March 1919
  • Decommissioned 25 October 1919 at Brest, France
  • Participated in the North Sea Mine Barrage between 8 August 1919 - 1 October 1919
  • Sold in England 27 October 1919 to a British salvage firm and renamed Restorer
  • Acquired in 1928 by the Blackstone Valley Transportation Co. of New York
  • Registered in 1933 to the Colonial Line of the Colonial Navigation Co. of New York, NY as the freighter Restorer
  • Scrapped in 1937.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 2,000 t.
    1933 - 1,108 t.
  • Length 220'
    1933 - 210'
  • Beam 32'
  • Draft 12'
    1933 - 23.3'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 117
    1933 - 18
  • Armament: One 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Two single ended boilers, one 950hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Chesapeake
    Chesapeake 75k In port, prior to her World War I era Naval service, possibly when inspected by the Third Naval District on 28 March 1917
    Photographed by B. R. Roome, New York City
    U.S. Navy photo NH 101393    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Chesapeake (ID 3395)
    Chesapeake 115k At the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company (probably in the New York City area), 3 April 1919. Also present are several tugs, among them the Dewitt C. Ivins (in the left center foreground) and the Solicitor (partially visible in the right foreground). Note the heavy boom fitted to Chesapeake's foremast to support her intended employment as a salvage ship.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 1081    		 Naval Historical Center
    SS Restorer
    Chesapeake/Restorer 87k Photo from the R. L. Graham Collection, Steam Ship Historical Society of America Images of America, Steamboats on Long Island Sound
    Photo added 24 November 2021
    Commanding Officers
    PCULTJG Charles G. Wilcox, USNRF1918 - 22 March 1919
    01LT Melvin Chase Kent, USN22 March 1919 - 25 October 1919
    Courtesy of Joe Radigan
    View the Chesapeake (ID 3395)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Identification Numbered Vessel (ID) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History