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Identification Numbered Civilian Ships Photo Archive

USAT Marica
ex-USS Marica (ID 4031)



Navy call sign (Early 1919):
George - Jig - Dog - Tare

Call sign (Late 1919):
Nan - Easy - Fox - Mike

Marica served both the U. S. Navy and Army

Transport:

  • Built in 1919 as Jacob Luckenbach by the Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester, PA
  • Acquired by the Navy on completion and commissioned USS Marica (ID 4031), 9 June 1919
  • Decommissioned 12 September 1919, struck from the Navy Register, transferred to the War Department and placed in service as USAT Marica
  • Returned to her owners and renamed Lillian Luckenbach
  • The ship's long commercial service lasted until 27 March 1943, when she was sunk off the Virginia coast in the Chesapeake Channel after colliding with the SS Cape Henlopen.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 18,680 t.
  • Length 473' 7"
  • Beam 60'
  • Speed 14.5 kts.
  • Complement 50 (1919)
  • Propulsion: Two 2,500hp steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Marica
    South Bend 149k Sol Navis and South Bend fitting out on 26 February 1919 in the wet dock at the Sun Shipyard, Chester, Pa. Sol Navis is in the foreground and South Bend is the ship behind her with her anchor in place. The two ships behind them are probably Edellyn [ID-4307] and Marica [ID-4031]
    National Archives photo from Shipscribe    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS Marica (ID 4031)
    Marica 74k At anchor in 1919, while serving as a troop transport.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 104806    		 Robert Hurst
    Marica 70k At anchor, 1919
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106697
    Marica 87k At Brest, France on 29 June 1919, with the U.S. Navy lighter Nenette alongside. The ship in the left distance is USS Pretoria
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2009
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106613
    Marica 78k Embarked passengers Tommy Trampp
    USAT Marica
    Marica 102k Contemporary photograph of an artwork, depicting the ship in heavy seas.
    Courtesy of Edwin T. Galvin, 2005. The original print came from the collection of the donor's father, William T. Galvin, a U.S. Coast Guardsman who had served in Marica's crew.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103127.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Marica 59k In harbor, circa 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2009
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106598    		 Robert Hurst
    View the Marica (ID 4031)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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