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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Wilhelmina (ID 2168)



Call sign (1919):
George - Sail - Fox - Cast
Transport:

  • Built in 1909 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, VA
  • Launched 18 September 1909
  • Acquired by the Navy 26 January 1918 and commissioned USS Wilhelmina (ID 2168) the same day
  • Decommissioned 16 August 1919, struck from the Navy list and returned to her owner, the Matson Navigation Co. the same day
  • Sold in 1940 to Lochinever, Ltd., London, England (British Ministry of Shipping)
  • Torpedoed and sunk 2 December 1940 by the German submarine U-94 with no loss of life.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 13,256 t.
  • Length 451' 2"
  • Beam 54' 1"
  • Draft 26' 6"
  • Speed 16.5 kts.
  • Complement 248
  • Armament: Four 6"/50 mounts, two 1-pounders, two machine guns and four depth charges
  • Propulsion: Six single ended oil fired boilers, one vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Wilhelmina
    Wilhelmina 106k In port, circa 1917, while operating commercially for the Matson Navigation Company
    U.S. Navy photo NH 89799    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Wilhelmina (ID 2168)
    Wilhelmina 116k Underway in New York Harbor, 1 May 1918, after being painted in "dazzle" camouflage
    Photographed by the New York Navy Yard
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43548    		 Naval Historical Center
    Wilhelmina 134k Alongside a pier at New York, 1 May 1918, after being painted in "dazzle" camouflage
    Photographed by the New York Navy Yard
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43549
    Wilhelmina 81k Underway in New York Harbor, 1 May 1918, after being painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
    Photographed by the New York Navy Yard.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43550
    Wilhelmina 102k At the New York Navy Yard on 1 May 1918, after being painted with "dazzle" camouflage. A coaling facility is behind the ship.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 47885
    Wilhelmina 107k In harbor, being assisted by tugs, circa 1918 or early 1919.
    Donation of Luther J. Greenly.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43551
    Wilhelmina 128k A Halftone reproduction of an artwork (or heavily retouched photograph) showing in World War I camouflage. There is no evidence that she ever wore this camouflage pattern. This image was published in 1918-1919 as one of ten photographs in a "Souvenir Folder" of views of and on board Wilhelmina
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 103975    		 Robert Hurst
    Wilhelmina 133k In a U.S. East Coast port, 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 107038
    Wilhelmina 202k 11 February 1919
    Bassens, Bordeaux, France
    Leaving American Docks with casuals, sick and wounded on board for return to the United States
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine
    Wilhelmina 89k At the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 13 May 1919
    Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 11 Portland Street, Boston
    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103411    		 Naval Historical Center
    Wilhelmina 100k Underway at sea, circa May-June 1919. Photographed from on board USS Patricia. This photograph is a double-exposure, with an image of a Sailor also visible
    Photograph from the album of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Edward D. Porges. Donated by his daughter, Gail Porges Guggenheim, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105022    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Joe W. Jory, USNRF26 January 1918
    02CDR William Theodore Tarrant, USN - USNA Class of 1898
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1943) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		March 1918 - June 1918
    03CDR John Grady, USN - Awarded the Medal of Honor (1914) and the Navy Cross (1918)
    Retired as Captain    		1918
    04CDR William Jefferson Giles, USN - USNA Class of 1903
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Captain    		1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Wilhelmina (ID 2168)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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