SS West Madaket

SS West Madaket in merchant service after World War I
History
United States
Name	West Madaket
Namesake	Madaket
Owner	USSB (1919–1931) Waterman Steamship Corp. (1931–1943)
Builder	Skinner & Eddy (Seattle)
Yard number	33
Laid down	31 July 1918
Launched	5 October 1918
Commissioned	30 October 1918
Maiden voyage	18 November 1918
Homeport	Seattle (1919–1931) Mobile (1931–1943)
Identification	US Official Number 217176 Call sign LNQF (1919–1933) Call sign WJOO (1934–1943)
Fate	Sunk, 5 May 1943
History
United States
Name	USS West Madaket
Operator	U.S. Navy (1918–1919)
Acquired	31 October 1918
Commissioned	31 October 1918
Decommissioned	8 May 1919
Fate	Returned to owners 8 May 1919
General characteristics
Type	Design 1013 ship
Tonnage	5,654 GRT(1918–1933) 5,565 GRT(1934–1943) 4,099 NRT(1918–1933) 3,483 NRT(1934–1943) 8,573 DWT
Displacement	12,225 tons (normal)
Length	409 ft 6 in (124.82 m)
Beam	54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)
Draft	24 ft 2+1⁄2 in (7.379 m) (loaded)
Depth	27 ft 1 in (8.26 m)
Installed power	2,500 ihp
Propulsion	General Electric Co. steam turbine, double reduction geared to one screw
Speed	11+1⁄2 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h)
Complement	94

SS West Madaket was a freighter built in 1918–1919 by Skinner & Eddy Corporation of Seattle for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine.

Construction

West Madaket is launched on 5 October 1918, at the Skinner and Eddy Corporation shipyard at Seattle, Washington.

West Madaket was built in 1918 as a commercial cargo ship at Seattle, Washington by the Skinner and Eddy Corporation. Launched on 5 October 1918, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy for World War I service upon completion on 31 October 1918, assigned naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 3636, and commissioned the same day as USS West Madaket at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, with Lieutenant Commander B. U. Heald, USNRF, in command.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West Madaket completed her sea trials too late to see service before World War I ended on 11 November 1918. She departed for the United States East Coast on 18 November 1918 with a cargo of 7,031 tons of flour consigned to European food relief. Voyaging via the Panama Canal, she arrived at New York City on 16 December 1918 and departed on 22 December 1918, bound for Europe. She made port at Falmouth, England, on 5 January 1919 and pushed on, that same day, for Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where she discharged her cargo until 23 January 1919.

Returning to New York on 9 February 1919, West Madaket loaded 6,841 tons of general cargo and made a voyage to Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France, returning to New York on 28 April 1919.

West Madaket was decommissioned on 8 May 1919 at Newport News, Virginia, and was transferred to the United States Shipping Board on the same day.

Once again SS West Madaket, she remained in the custody of the Shipping Board until the United States Maritime Commission was established and replaced the Shipping Board in 1936. She then continued in Maritime Commission service into World War II. On 5 May 1943, while steaming with Convoy ONS 5, she was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by U-707.

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: S.S. West Madaket (American Freighter, 1918). Served as USS West Madaket (ID # 3636) in 1918-1919 at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2012-10-09)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: West Madaket (ID 3636)