USS Relief (ID-2170)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Relief.

Relief in commercial use prior to her U.S. Navy service
History
United States
Name	USS Relief
Namesake	Aid given in time of need
Builder	Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware
Completed	1907
Acquired	8 August 1918
Commissioned	19 August 1918
Fate	Sold 14 May 1919; in commercial service until 1955
Notes	Operated commercially 1907-1918 and 1919-1955
General characteristics
Type	Salvage tug
Tonnage	828 gross tons
Displacement	1,386 tons
Length	200 ft 0 in (60.96 m)
Beam	30 ft 3 in (9.22 m)
Draft	15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 7 in (6.27 m)
Speed	14.5 knots
Complement	58
Armament	none

The fourth USS Relief (ID-2170) was a salvage tug that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

Relief was a steel-hulled wrecking tug built during 1907 by Harlan and Hollingsworth at Wilmington, Delaware.

The U.S. Navy acquired her on 8 August 1918 from the Merritt and Chapman Derrick and Wrecking Company of New York, New York for World War I service. The Navy gave her Id. No. 2170 and commissioned her on 19 August 1918. Relief operated as a salvage and wrecking tug in the New York area while assigned to the 3rd Naval District into 1919. She collided with the patrol vessel USS Williams (SP-498) on 27 September 1918; Williams suffered slight damage.

Relief was sold to her former owner on 14 May 1919, and remained in commercial service between the two world wars. During World War II, Relief, although remaining civilian-owned and -operated, supported the U.S. Navy under the direction of its Bureau of Ships beginning on 14 January 1942. Relief subsequently returned to mercantile service until placed out of service in 1955.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Relief (American Salvage Ship, 1907). Served as USS Relief (ID # 2170) in 1918-1919