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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Western Ally (ID 3815)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Pup - King - Sail
Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 as War Hector by the Ames Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, WA
  • Renamed Western Ally prior to completion
  • Launched 9 November 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 15 January 1919 and commissioned USS Western Ally (ID 3815) the same day
  • Decommissioned 23 July 1919 at Philadelphia, PA and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Abandoned in 1929 due to age but sold to the McCormick SS Co. of San Francisco, CA and renamed Forbes Hauptmann
  • Sold in 1940 to the Ministry of War Transport, Great Britain and renamed Empire Kittiwake
  • Sold to the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission of Oslo, Norway and renamed Norfalk
  • Sunk by mine 20 July 1944 at 49° 39' N., 01° 05' E. on her way to the Normandy beaches to be scuttled as a blockship.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 12,800 t.
  • Length 423' 6"
  • Beam 54'
  • Depth of hold 31' 7"
  • Draft 25' 6"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,944hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
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