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Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Canibas (ID 3401)



Call sign (1919):
Love - Mike - Sail - Pup

Call sign (1923 - 1941):
Watch - Quack - Easy - Unit
Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 as New Jersey by the Texas Shipbuilding Co., Bath, ME
  • Completed in September 1918 as Canibas
  • Acquired by the Navy 10 September 1918 and commissioned USS Canibas (ID 3401) the same day
  • Decommissioned, struck from the Navy Register 4 June 1919 at New York and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Leased to two companies between 1920 - 1921 (Texas Line/Green Star)
  • Sold to the Matson Line in 1923 and renamed Mauna Ala
  • Wrecked 10 December 1941 off Clatsop Beach, OR.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 13,910 t.
  • Length 435'
  • Beam 54'
  • Draft 26' 7½"
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Armament: One 6"/50 and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,500hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Canibas (ID 3401)
    Canibas 112k Photographed at her builder's yard at Bath, Maine, on 12 September 1918, two days after commissioning
    National Archives photo from Shipscribe    		 Robert Hurst
    Canibas 55k Photographed in port during 1918, while painted in "dazzle" camouflage
    U.S. Navy photo NH 89786    		 Naval Historical Center
    Canibas 114k At Antwerp, Belgium, in 1919
    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, 1976
    U.S. Navy photo NH 84509
    Canibas 243k Discharging cargo in the port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 11 April 1919. Rhine River canal boats are in the foreground
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 103455    		 Original photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo: Jay Milewski
    SS Mauna Ala
    Canibas 158k c. December 1941
    Mauna Ala was bound for Honolulu when word came that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Because of the dangers on the route to Honolulu, the Mauna Ala was ordered to proceed to Portland, Or. Since the west coast was under blackout, all navigational lights had been doused, and the ship went ashore on 10 December 1941, as it attempted to find the mouth of the Columbia River. The ship broke up on the beach and vessel and cargo were a total loss    		 John Spivey
    Photo added 12 January 2022
    View the Canibas (ID 3401)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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