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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Western Front (ID 1787)
ex-Indiana



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Dog - Nan
Freighter:

  • Built in 1917 as Nikkosan Maru by the Skinner and Eddy Corp., Seattle, WA
  • Launched 15 September 1917
  • Renamed Indiana after her completion
  • Acquired by the Navy 9 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Indiana (ID 1787), 11 May 1918
  • Renamed Western Front a few days later
  • Decommissioned 15 August 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 11,500 t.
  • Length 423' 9"
  • Beam 54'
  • Depth of hold 29' 9"
  • Draft 24' 1½"
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Armament: One 4"/40 mount and one 6-pounder
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,500shp Curtis steam turbine with reduction gear, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Western Front 111k Nikkosan Maru underway off Seattle, Washington, in late 1917, probably during trials
    Photographed by her builder, the Skinner & Eddy Corporation, Seattle.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 65084-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John Burns, USNRF11 May 1918
    02LCDR J. Martin Sivertsen, USNRF1919
    03LCDR George A. Saunders, USNRF1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Western Front (ID 1787)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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