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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 1917, from the Central Trust Co. of Illinois
  • 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
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    one single 4"50 cal gun mount
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts four 4" guns, two 3" guns, two 1-pdrs.
    Propulsion
    two triple expansion-steam turbines
    Ship's Service Generators
    one recip-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.
    one recip-drive 35Kw 120V D.C.
    twin propellers, 3,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Commercial Service
    Wilmette 80k The Chicago - South Haven Steamship Line steamer SS Eastland getting underway, circa 1905-07, location unknown. Photo source Eastland Disaster Historical Society. Rober
    Wilmette 20k Post card image of SS Eastland in the livery of the Eastland Navigation Co., Cleveland, OH. and SS Christopher Columbus underway from Chicago, in 1909. Robert Hurst
    USS Wilmette (IX-29)
    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
    USS 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
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 3 June 2011