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NavSource Online: Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Volunteer (ID 3242)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Mike - Nan - Dog
Freighter:

  • Laid down in 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, CA
  • Launched 18 May 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 23 August 1918 and commissioned USS Volunteer (ID 3242) the same day
  • Decommissioned 27 February 1919 at New York, returned to the United States Shipping Board and struck from the Navy list
  • Sold in 1937 to the Lykes Brothers-Ripley Steamship Co. of New Orleans, LA
  • Sold in 1948 to Arm. Transatlantica of Panama and renamed Andalusia
  • Wrecked 4 November 1949 on Waadah Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Cape Flattery, WA.

    Specifications::

  • Displacement 16,100 t.
  • Length 410'
  • Beam 56'
  • Draft 30'
  • Speed 10.5 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Propulsion: Three single ended oil fired boilers, one 2,400shp Curtis steam turbine with reduction gear, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Volunteer 241k 18 May 1918
    Launching
    National Archives photo CN-8901    		 Mike Mohl
    Photo added 13 October 2020
    Volunteer 147k Underway in San Francisco Bay, California, at the time of her completion, circa mid-1918
    U.S. Navy photos NH 780 and NH 102365    		 Naval Historical Center
    Volunteer 130k
    Volunteer 98k Underway in San Francisco Bay, California, at the time of her completion, circa mid-1918.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105616    		 Robert Hurst
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The second Volunteer (Id. No. 3242) was launched on 18 May 1918 at Alameda, Calif., by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. for the United States Shipping Board. She was delivered to the Navy on 23 August 1918 and was placed in commission on that same day, Lt. Comdr. John G. Moreno, USNRF, in command.

    Pressed into service as a collier, Volunteer set sail from San Francisco on 7 September, bound for the Far East. During that voyage, she made port calls at Shanghai and Hong Kong before arriving at Manila on 24 October. From there, she moved south to Iloilo on the island of Panay, located in the central Philippines. She reached that port on 6 November and, after a false start and a return for additional fuel, finally set course back to the United States on 8 December. Volunteer reached Oahu on New Year's Day 1919 and remained in Hawaii until the 9th when she got underway for the east coast. The collier arrived in New York City on 15 February 1919. Twelve days later, she was placed out of commission and was returned to the United States Shipping Board. Her name was struck from the Navy list on that same day, 27 February 1919. Volunteer remained in the possession of the United States Shipping Board until 1937 at which time she was sold to the Lykes Brothers-Ripley Steamship Co. of New Orleans, La. That company operated her under the name SS Volunteer until 1948 when her name disappeared from the mercantile lists.

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