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Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Lake Helen (ID 4215-E)



Civilian call sign:
Love - Mike - Tare - Vice
Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 by the McDougall-Duluth Co., Duluth, MN
  • Launched 4 July 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 10 October 1918 and commissioned USS Lake Helen (ID 4215-E) the same day
  • Decommissioned 7 August 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Sold in 1925 to Consolidated Navigation of Monaco
  • Sold in 1926 to the West Palm Beach Line and renamed York
  • Sold again in 1926 to the Merchants and Miners Transportation Co. of Baltimore, MD
  • Sold in 1929 to Sanne and Mithassel of Oslo, Norway and renamed Skogvic
  • Sold in 1933 to the Soviet Union, renamed Kama and assigned the Baltic Main Administration office of Sovtorgflot
  • With the restructuring of the Soviet fleet on 15 March 1934 Kama fell under the Baltic State Sea Shipping Co. On September 22, 1939 it was reassigned to the Murmansk State Sea Shipping Co. and then
    the Northern State Sea Shipping Co. 1 January 1940. Following Allied victory, Kama was returned to the Murmansk State Sea Shipping Co. 10 October 1945. It was removed from the active roster 25 September 1963 and most likely scrapped afterwards. Believed to have been scrapped in 1968.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,998 t.
  • Length 251'
  • Beam 43' 6"
  • Draft 17' 7"
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Complement 52
  • Armament: One 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Two single ended boilers, one 1,200hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Lake Helen 53k Launching Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Lake Helen 101k Shown just after her sideways launch at Duluth, Minnesota, on 4 July 1918
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 70473    		 Robert Hurst
    View the Lake Helen (ID 4215-E)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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