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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Herbert L. Pratt (ID 2339)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Quack - Dog
Tanker:

  • Built in 1918 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA
  • Launched 8 November 1917
  • Delivered in February 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 2 June 1918
  • Struck a mine 3 June 1918 while being delivered to the Navy, that was laid by the German submarine U-151, off Cape Henlopen, DE 2.5 miles southeast of Overfalls Lightship
  • Repaired at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and commissioned 10 June 1918
  • Decommissioned 18 January 1919 at New York and returned to her owner
  • She had more than two-and-a-half decades of further commercial service, taking her through the Second World War. The old ship was placed in the War Shipping Administration's reserve fleet in February
    1946 and sold for scrap in December 1946.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 10,122 t.
  • Length 453'
  • Beam 56'
  • Draft 27'
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Complement 69
  • Armament: One 5"/40 mount and one 6-pounder
  • Propulsion: Three Union Iron Works boilers, one 2,600bhp Curtis steam turbine with reduction gear, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Herbert L. Pratt 110k Sporting the elaborate stack markings of her owner. The circle on the stack had the word "OILS" in the middle surrounded by the name "Atlantic Refining Co.
    Photo from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Herbert L. Pratt 110k Sporting the elaborate stack markings of her owner. The circle on the stack had the word "OILS" in the middle surrounded by the name "Atlantic Refining Co.
    Photo from Shipscribe.com
    Herbert L. Pratt 62k National Archives photo from Shipscribe.com
    Herbert L. Pratt 85k Photographed on 21 January 1918 at the Alameda, California, yard of her builder, Union Iron Works Co. (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Union Plant)
    National Archives photo from Shipscribe.com
    Herbert L. Pratt 108k Photographed on 21 February 1918 at the San Francisco yard of her builder, Union Iron Works Co. (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Union Plant, Potrero Works). Her port of registry, painted out in gray on her stern along with her name, was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    National Archives photo from Shipscribe.com
    Herbert L. Pratt 83k Probably photographed upon completion in March 1918
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105604
    Herbert L. Pratt 104k Photographed circa 1918
    U.S. Navy photo NH 65116-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    Herbert L. Pratt 88k About to leave for France, circa mid-1918. She is painted in "dazzle" camouflage
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107028    		 Robert Hurst
    Herbert L. Pratt 97k View looking aft from her bridge, circa mid-1918. She is transporting a deck cargo of large crates, many of which are painted with camouflage patterns
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107029
    Herbert L. Pratt 81k Under salvage after hitting a mine, June 1918. By the time this view was taken buoyancy had been restored to the ship's forward section and she had raised steam in preparation for going to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs. Note the diagonal line on her hull, sloping down and aft from the quarterdeck break, representing the degree to which her bow had been submerged
    Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972
    U.S. Navy photos NH 83121, NH 14, NH 53528 and NH 53529    		 Naval Historical Center
    Herbert L. Pratt 89k
    Herbert L. Pratt 105k
    Herbert L. Pratt 130k
    Herbert L. Pratt 113k Hull damage sustained when the ship struck a mine on 3 June 1918. Photographed while drydocked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 12 June 1918. Though clearly only in the earliest stages of repairs, she had been placed in commission two days earlier. Note men in skiff by the damaged area, and hull plating with holes from sheared rivets
    U.S. Navy photo NH 53527
    Herbert L. Pratt 388k Photo from the 5 June 1918 edition of the Philadelphia, PA Evening Public Ledger, the headline being "Stung by the Sea Asp"
    Photo added 17 April 2019    		 Robert Hurst
    Herbert L. Pratt 125k 16 August 1943
    Off Virginia Beach, VA
    Photographed by a blimp based at Weeksville, North CarolinaNational Archives photo 80-G-80026 from Shipscribe.com
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Herbert L. Pratt was acquired from the Atlantic Refining Co. and commissioned at Philadelphia 10 June 1918, Lt. Comdr. A. H. Peterson in command.

    Taking on a full cargo of fuel oil, she sailed for France on 30 July, arriving in Brest on 2 September via New York and Halifax. At Brest she discharged her cargo to American destroyers and other ships, returning to New York 28 September. A second transatlantic voyage, from New York to Plymouth, England, occupied Herbert L. Pratt from 17 October to 11 December 1918.

    The tanker decommissioned at New York 18 January 1919 and was returned to her former owner.

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