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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Martha Washington (ID 3019)



Call sign:
George - Tare - Dog - Watch


Martha Washington served both the U. S. Army and Navy

Transport:

  • Built in 1908 by Russell and Co., Port Glasgow, Scotland for Unione Austriaca di Navigazione of Trieste, Austria-Hungary
  • Launched 7 December 1907
  • Acquired by the Army 6 April 1917 and commissioned USAT Martha Washington
  • Acquired by the Navy in November 1917
  • Commissioned USS Martha Washington (ID 3019), 2 January 1918
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Navy list 18 November 1919 and transferred to the War Department
  • Sold back to her former owners in November 1922
  • Owners changed name to the Cosulich Line of Trieste, Italy
  • Sold in 1932 to Italia Flotte Riunite of Trieste and renamed Tel Aviv
  • Scrapped in December 1934 at Trieste.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 12,700 t.
  • Length 470'
  • Beam 56'
  • Draft 24' 9"
  • Speed 17.2 kts.
  • Complement 427, Troops 3,380
  • Armament: Four 5"/51 mounts, two 1-pounders and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: Six single ended and one auxiliary boiler, two 3,609hp vertical triple expansion steam engines, two shafts Steam, two shafts
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Martha Washington
    Martha Washington 154k Post card dated 13 October 1909, Trieste, Italy Tommy Trampp
    USAT Martha Washington
    Martha Washington 127k Possibly photographed when inspected by the Navy in Novemeber 1917 a few days before the Navy took her over from the Army.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105607    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Martha Washington (ID 3019)
    Martha Washington 116k Photo Q 72880 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums part of the American First World War Official Exchange Collection Robert Hurst
    Martha Washington 70k Inbound to Hampton Roads, Virginia, from Brest, France, 1918.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 2749    		 Naval Historical Center
    Martha Washington 154k Outbound off Cape Henry, Virginia, en route to Brest, France, in 1918. Her lifeboats are rigged for the war zone.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 2750
    Martha Washington 97k Crowded with troops returning to the United States from Europe. A Curtiss HS-2L flying by at the extreme right.
    Photographed by O.W. Waterman, Hampton, Virginia, in 1919.
    Courtesy of Thomas Sudbrink, 1990
    U.S. Navy photo NH 96668
    Martha Washington 86k Probably the model for the below photo
    Photo by Holladay, Newport News, Virginia    		 Tommy Trampp
    Martha Washington 111k Artwork or heavily-retouched photograph, showing the ship underway in 1919
    Reproduced as a panoramic image by Holladay, Newport News, Virginia
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105812    		 Robert Hurst
    Martha Washington 87k Underway in 1919, while employed bringing U.S. troops home from France
    Photograph from the collection of Robert H. Helm, donated by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Helm, 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106336
    Martha Washington 121k At Newport News, Virginia, 19 May 1919, probably upon arrival from Europe. Her decks are crowded with troops.
    Panoramic photograph by Clements, 619 F. Street NW, Washington, D.C.
    Donation of Mark Wertheimer, 2005
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103399    		 Naval Historical Center
    Martha Washington 121k Off Constantinople, Turkey, circa September-October 1919. The bow of a British battleship is visible at the extreme right.
    Photographed by R.E. Wayne.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 46410
    Martha Washington 76k The transport Martha Washington, in the background, and other unidentified ships, anchored in Trebizond Harbor, [Turkey] in October, 1919. One month later she was decommissioned and transferred back to the War Department, ending her U.S. Navy transport service
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo from the Imperial War Museum American First World War Official Exchange Collection    		 Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Chauncey Shackford, USN - USNA Class of 1899
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1920) - Retired as Captain    		2 January 1918
    02CAPT Kenneth Galleher Castleman, USN - USNA Class of 1896
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1920) - Retired as Captain    		1918 - 22 November 1918
    03CDR Guy Wilkinson Stuart Castle, USN - USNA Class of 1901
    Awarded the Medal of Honor (1914)    		22 November 1918 - 10 August 1919 (Committed suicide)
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Martha Washington (ID 3019)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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