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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Wilmette (IX-29)
ex
 Wilmette (IX-29) (1941 - 1945)
 USS Wilmette (1918 - 1941)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Victor - Delta
 NAVD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - World War I Victory Medal (with Atlantic Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Defense Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
  • Built as SS Eastland in 1903 at Jinks Shipbuilding Co. Port Huron, MI.
  • Acquired by the Navy, 21 November 1911
  • Converted for Naval service as a Gunboat
  • Commissioned USS Wilmette, 20 September 1918, CAPT. William B. Wells in command
  • Placed In Ordinary, 9 July 1919 at Chicago, IL.
  • Recommissioned, 29 June 1920
  • Decommissioned, and placed in service, 15 February, 1940
  • Designated Miscellaneous Auxiliary (IX-29), 17 February 1941
  • Recommissioned, 9 April 1945
  • Decommissioned, 28 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 December 1945
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping 31 October 1946 to Hyman Michaels Co.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,600 t.(est)
    Length 265'
    Beam 38' 2"
    Draft 19' 6"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement 209
    Armament four 4" guns, two 3" guns, two 1-pdrs.
    Propulsion two steam turbines, twin shafts
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Wilmette 170k USS Wilmette moored south of the lock gate of the Chicago River in Chicago, IL. Navy Pier is visible in the background, circa winter 1918.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-10494, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Ken Laesser
    Wilmette 28k USS Wilmette moored at the Navy Pier in Chicago, IL., date unknown Gunter Krebs
    Wilmette 147k USS Wilmette moored at Chicago, IL., circa 1932. Robert Peterson
    View the Wilmette (IX-29)
    DANFS     history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Wells, William Benefiel.20 September 1918 - ~
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Eastland Disaster Historical Society
    Maritime Quest - SS Eastland / USS Wilmette IX-29
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Type Index Back To The Miscellaneous Auxiliary (IX) Ship Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 3 July 2009