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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Fairmont (ID 2429)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Pup - Sail
Freighter:

  • Laid down 13 February 1917 by the New York Shipbuilding Co. Camden, NJ
  • Launched 8 December 1917
  • Acquired by the Navy, 18 December 1918 and commissioned the same day
  • Decommissioned, 28 February 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board for return to her owners, Coastwise Transportation
  • Renamed Nebraskan in 1922
  • Acquired by C. L. Sprague and renamed Black Point
  • Torpedoed and sunk 5 May 1945 by the German submarine U-853 off Point Judith, RI.
  • Black Point was last U.S.-flagged merchant ship lost in World War II

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 12,163 t.
  • Length 395' 1"
  • Beam 66'
  • Draft 27'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Armament: One 6"/50 mount and one 6-pounder
  • Propulsion: Three single-ended boilers, one 2,500ihp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Fairmont (ID 2429)
    Fairmont 110k In harbor on a winter day, circa 1918-1919. Note ice on the ship's side amidships
    U.S. Navy photo NH 70454    		 Naval Historical Center
    Fairmont 151k In port, probably soon after completion in early 1918. Note her large open hatch covers and the small gun mounted at her bow
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99176
    Fairmont 103k Some of the ship's gunners during a wash day on board, 1918
    Collection of Grant S. Ray, who served in Fairmont during World War I
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 99178    		 Robert Hurst
    Fairmont 138k A view on board while the ship was underway during her first trip to France, March 1918
    Collection of Grant S. Ray
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 99179
    Fairmont 107k Some of the ship's gunners pose by her forward (three-inch) gun, 28 June 1918
    Collection of Grant S. Ray
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 99180
    Fairmont 98k After (six-inch) gun, 1918. Inscription on the original print's reverse reads: "Crew made 8 hits 17000 yds at 12 knots". If this statement is correct, this would have been an extraordinary feat of gunnery
    Collection of Grant S. Ray
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 99181
    Fairmont 126k Crewmen with a small gun (perhaps a 3-pounder) on board the ship, while she was at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 1918
    Collection of Grant S. Ray
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 99192
    SS Black Point
    Fairmont 65k Seen from an airship from ZP-11, SS Black Point steams off the east coast of the U.S., some 10 miles east of the entrance to the North River on 22 September 1944. A sailor on her foc'sle is probably watching the K-ship from which the picture was taken. The SS Silver Star Park steams in the background, both ships' hulls reflecting hard service
    National Archives photo 80-G-208086    		 Mike Green
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Fairmont, (No. 2429), a cargo ship, was launched 8 December 1917 by New York Shipbuilding Co. Camden, N.J.; acquired by the Navy 18 December 1918; and commissioned the next day, Lieutenant Commander E. [Edward] H. Wider, USNRF, in command.

    Between 6 March 1918 and 21 November 1918 Fairmont made four voyages in convoy to France carrying cargo to supply the American Expeditionary force. Her last naval voyage, from 20 December 1918 to 1 February 1919, was with a cargo of flour and coal, which she carried to Rotterdam, Holland, for use by American agencies in the relief of war-caused famine in Europe. Fairmont was decommissioned 28 February 1919, and the same day transferred to the Shipping Board for return to her owner.

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