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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Choctaw (ID 1648)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Have - Tare - Pup
Freighter:

  • Built in 1917 by the American Shipbuilding Co., Chicago, IL
  • Acquired by the Navy 19 February 1918
  • Commissioned Choctaw (ID 1648), 4 March 1918 at Hoboken, NJ
  • Decommissioned 16 January 1919 at Norfolk, VA and transferred to the United States Shipping Board
  • Returned to her owners, the Atlantic, Gulf and West Indies Steamship Co. of New York, 17 January 1919 at New York
  • Sold in 1920 to the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co. of New York
  • Sold in 1928 to the Choctaw Navigation Co. of New York
  • Sold in 1929 to Joseph O'Boyle of New York
  • Sold again in 1929 to A/S Othander (T.S. Wilkens and Co., Mgrs.) of Frederickstad, Norway and renamed Othander
  • Sold in 1935 to China and renamed Tung Lung
  • Sold in 1938 to Towa Kisen K. K. of Kobe, Japan and renamed Syoka Maru
  • Sunk by air attack 14 July 1945, off the coast of Northern Japan at position 43°12'N x 141°.02'E.

    Specifications:

    Displacement 3,800 t.
    Length 261'
    Beam 43' 6"
    Draft 17' 9"
    Speed 9 kts.
    Complement 63
    Armament: One 5"/40 mount and one 3"/50 mount
    Propulsion: Two single-ended boilers, one 1,250hp vertical triple-expansion steam engine, one shaft.

    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Choctaw 68k Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Choctaw 118k Probably photographed prior to her World War I era Naval service
    National Archives photo 19-N-10480    		 Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Ernest Fred Mitchell, USNRF4 March 1918 - 1918
    02LCDR Leighton M. Edelman, USNRF1918
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History:

    Choctaw

    An Indian tribe, formerly of Alabama and Mississippi, now resident in Oklahoma.

    The third Choctaw (No. 1648) was launched in 1917 for the Shipping Board by American Shipbuilding Co., Chicago, Ill.; transferred to the Navy 19 February 1918 under bare-boat charter; and commissioned 4 March 1918 at Hoboken, N.J., Lieutenant Commander E. F. Mitchell, USNRF, in command.

    Choctaw was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and between 16 March and 22 December 1918 made four transatlantic voyages, carrying mine cargo and general supplies to the Azores, Scotland, and France. On her last voyage she aided the distressed Danish SS Asgard 19 December 1918 and towed her to Norfolk, arriving 22 December.

    Decommissioned at Norfolk 16 January 1919, Choctaw was returned to the Shipping Board and delivered to her owners at New York the following day.

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