USS Moccasin (ID-1322)
.jpg) SS Moccasin, probably just after being taken over by the United States Shipping Board in 1917. Her former name Prinz Joachim is still painted on her bow. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name: | USS Moccasin |
| Namesake: | Moccasin, a soft leather shoe or boot of Algonquian origin (previous name retained) |
| Owner: | Hamburg America Line |
| Builder: | Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg, Germany |
| Completed: | 1903 |
| Acquired: | 19 February 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 26 February 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | 2 June 1919 |
| Fate: | Transferred to United States Shipping Board 2 June 1919, Returned to commercial service |
| Notes: | In commercial service as German passenger-cargo ship SS Prinz Joachim 1903-1917 and as American cargo ship SS Moccasin 1917-1918 and from 1919; later renamed SS Porto Rico |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Refrigerated cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | 4,759 gross tons |
| Displacement: | 9,060 tons |
| Length: | 370 ft 6 in (112.93 m) |
| Beam: | 45 ft 3 in (13.79 m) |
| Draft: | 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m) (mean) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 11.5 knots (maximum) |
| Complement: | 174 |
| Armament: | 1 × 6-inch (152-millimeter) gun, 1 × 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) gun |
USS Moccasin (ID-1322) was a United States Navy refrigerated cargo ship in commission from 1918-1919. She was the third ship to carry her name.
Moccasin was built as the German commercial passenger-cargo ship SS Prinz Joachim in 1903 at Flensburg, Germany, by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft for the Hamburg America Line. When the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied in April 1917, the United States Government seized her and placed her under the control of the United States Shipping Board for use during World War I. Renamed SS Moccasin, she entered service as an American civilian cargo ship. Late in 1917, the United States Army chartered her.
The U.S. Navy acquired Moccasin at New York City on 19 February 1918 for World War I use as a refrigerated cargo ship. She was assigned the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1322 and commissioned as USS Moccasin on 26 February 1918.
Service history
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Moccasin departed New York City on 14 March 1918 with a convoy for Europe, arriving at Bordeaux, France on 13 April to unload her cargo of frozen food.
Moccasin continued to operate as a refrigerator ship, making cross‑Atlantic runs to Europe from New York, until she decommissioned on 2 June 1919. She was transferred to the United States Shipping Board the same day.
She returned to commercial service as SS Moccasin, later in her career being renamed SS Porto Rico.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Moccasin (Passenger-Cargo Steamer, 1903). Originally named Prinz Joachim. Served as USS Moccasin (ID # 1322) in 1918-1919
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Moccasin (ID 1322)