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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAT Kenowis

Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 4 June 1919, as SS Kenowis at American International Shipbuilding Co., Hog Island, PA.
  • Launched, 26 November 1919
  • Delivered to the U.S. Shipping Board, 16 January 1920
  • Allocated to the U.S. Army Transport Service, 22 April 1926
  • Assigned to the A.T.S. Atlantic Fleet with homeport at the Army Supply Base, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • USAT Kenowis served as a supply ship which transported ammunition, equipment, vehicles, and rations to support U.S. Army garrisons overseas
  • Generally serviced the New York—Panama—San Francisco route
  • Participated in the rescue of civilian flyers Ernest L. Smith and Emory B. Bronte, who made the first non-stop flight from the continental U.S. (Oakland, CA) to Hawaii, and crash-landed on Molokai in July 1927
  • Participated in hurricane relief operations in September 1928 by transporting food and other supplies to San Juan, P.R.
  • Supported the return of the US Army Nicaraguan Canal Survey in July 1931
  • Returned to the U.S. Shipping Board, 5 September 1931
  • Sold to the Waterman Steamship Corporation, 14 September 1931
  • Renamed SS Kofresi in 1939
  • Final Disposition, sunk, 17 July 1944, to serve as a breakwater off Normandy, France.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,590
    Length 390'
    Beam 54'
    Draft 27'
    Speed 11.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 18
    Enlisted 253
    Largest Boom Capacity 5t.
    Cargo Capacity 4,960 DWT
    non-refrigerated, 271, 330 Cu ft
    Armament unknown
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 7,285 bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric-Curtis steam turbine
    three Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 215psi 475°
    three turbo-drive 60Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service Waterman Steamship Corp.
    Kenowis 54k Ex-USAT Kenowis underway as the Waterman Steamship Corp. freighter SS Kofresi, date and location unknown.
    Photo from US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol.4, courtesy Mariners Museum Newport News, VA.    		  
    Kenowis
    302206902    		 78k Waterman Steamship Corp. freighter SS Kofresi moored pierside, date and location unknown.
    Photo from Wrecksite eu.com    		 John Spivey
    Kenowis
    302206903    		 107k Site of the sinking of the block-ship SS Kofresi in the Gooseberry Harbor at Normandy.
    Photo from Wrecksite eu.com    		 John Spivey
    The history for USAT Kenowis is from US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol.4
    US Army Transportation Service Ship's Masters
    01CAPT. Randell, Frank S., A.T.S.22 April 1925 - 22 June 1927
    02CAPT. Syverson, John A., A.T.S.10 July 1927 - 14 September 1931
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 7 January 2022