Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Fresno (ID 3063)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - King - Vice - Sail
Freighter:

  • Built in August 1918 as War Coast by Moore-Scott Shipbuilding Co., Oakland CA
  • Renamed Fresno prior to completion
  • Acquired by the Navy 15 June 1918
  • Delivered to the Navy and commissioned USS Fresno (ID 3063), 22 June 1918
  • Decommissioned 4 August 1919 at New York and returned to the United States Shipping Board the same day
  • Scrapped in 1938 at Baltimore, MD.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 12,600 t.
  • Length 416' 6"
  • Beam 53'
  • Draft 26' 5"
  • Speed 10.25 kts.
  • Complement 77
  • Armament: One 4"/40 and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,800ihp Parsons steam turbine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Fresno 120k Photographed on builder's trials near Oakland, California, on 20 June 1918
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 96111 and 105261    		 Robert Hurst
    Fresno 85k
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Walter Anderson, USNRF27 June 1918 - 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

    Fresno

    Former name retained. (The cargo ship carried this name when acquired). A city in California. (CL-121 was named in honor of this city).

    The first Fresno (No. 3063), a cargo ship, was built in 1918 by Moore-Scott Shipbuilding Co., Oakland Calif., chartered by the Navy 15 June 1918; and commissioned 22 June 1918, Lieutenant Commander G. W. Anderson, USNRF, in command.

    Fresno loaded flour and Navy stores at Mare Island Navy Yard, and sailed 27 June 1918 for New York to load coal, arriving 31 July. Five days later she sailed in convoy for France, en route observing a gunfire attack by a submarine on one of the destroyers guarding her convoy. She discharged her cargo at LeHavre, loaded ballast at Devonport, England, and sailed for Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y., 14 September. On 29 September, while about 127 miles east of Atlantic City, N.J., she rescued the survivors of a wrecked seaplane, with whom she made port later that day.

    After three more voyages to French ports with general cargo, Fresno was decommissioned at New York 4 August 1919, and returned to the Shipping Board the same day.

    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Civilian Identification Numbered Ships (ID) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History