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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Covington (ID 1409)

Sank 2 July 1918

Transport: Built in 1908 as Cincinnati by F. Schichau, Danzig, Germany; Renamed Covington, (date unknown); Acquired by the Navy 26 July 1917; Commissioned USS Covington (ID 1409), 28 July 1917. Shortly after sunset on 1 July 1918 a U.S. Navy convoy of eight transports, escorted by seven destroyers, was steaming westbound some 150 miles southwesterly from Brest, France, bound back to the United States after having delivered more fresh troops for the fighting on the Western Front. The sea was calm with good visibility, and all ships were zig-zagging with lookout positions and guns manned as a precaution against the always-present menace of German submarines. The threat made its presence known at 9:12 PM, when a torpedo launched from U-86 detonated against the port side of Covington, steaming second from the left in the convoy's first row of five transports. The explosion, below her forward smokestack, blew open the ship's forward boiler room, and she soon came to a halt as the rest of the convoy split up and continued on. Some of the escorting destroyers, among them USS Little (DD 79) and USS Smith (DD 17), remained with Covington, which had developed a serious list to port. In the darkness, the transport's crew took to the lifeboats. Six of their number were killed in the torpedoing, but 770 others were picked up by the destroyers, which actively dropped depth charges in an effort to keep the submarine away. Covington was still afloat early the following morning, and it appeared that she might be saved. Tugs arrived from Brest and took her in tow, but water gradually penetrated her compartments. Her list increased, and the ship sank in mid-afternoon on 2 July 1918. Transports in this convoy were DeKalb (ID 3010), Covington, George Washington (ID 3018), Rijndam (SP 2505), Lenape (ID 2700), Dante Aleghieri (the only non-U.S. Navy ship present), Princess Matoika (SP 2290) and Wilhelmina (ID 2168). The escorting destroyers were Little , Conner (DD 72), Cummings(DD 44), Porter (DD 59), Jarvis (DD 38), Smith and Reid (DD 21). Sank 2 July 1918 off Brest, France at 47° 24' N., 7° 44' W., while being towed by Mercury (ID 3012).

Specifications: Displacement 16,339 t.; Length 608'; Beam 66' 4"; Draft unknown'; Speed 16 kts.; Complement 776; Armament four 6".


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Size Image Description Source
Covington 113k Fitting out for Navy service, circa mid-1917.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55503
Naval Historical Center
Covington 115k At the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 4 October 1917.
U.S. Navy photo NH 52857
Naval Historical Center
Covington 125k Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in 1918. She is anchored after dropping off her last load of troops from the States. This photo as likely taken in the harbor at Brest, France in the last few days of June 1918.
Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1977.
U.S. Navy photo NH 85173
Naval Historical Center
Covington 115k Sinking off Brest, France, on 2 July 1918. She had been torpedoed the previous day by German submarine U-86. Note U.S. Ensign flying from her flagstaff.
U.S. Navy photo NH 1225
Naval Historical Center
Covington 126k Sinking off Brest, France, on 2 July 1918. She had been torpedoed the previous day by German submarine U-86. Note towing lines rigged from her bow.
Courtesy of Captain William Baggaly, USN.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55504
Naval Historical Center
Covington 128k Sinking off Brest, France, on 2 July 1918. She had been torpedoed the previous day by German submarine U-86. Covington may still have been under tow at the time of this photograph, as two tugs are visible ahead of her.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55505
Naval Historical Center
Covington 110k Sinking off Brest, France, on 2 July 1918. She had been torpedoed the previous day by German submarine U-86. A tug is visible ahead of Covington, which may have been under tow at the time of this photograph. Note lifeboat some distance away from the ship's port side.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55506
Naval Historical Center
Covington 159k Sinking off Brest, France, in July 1918. She had been torpedoed on 1 July by German submarine U-86 and sank the following day. This photograph may have been taken in the late stages of abandonment, as a lifeboat is alongside by the aftermost survivor disembarkation ladder, with a few men visible above.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55507
Naval Historical Center
Covington 132k Sinking off Brest, France, on 2 July 1918. She had been torpedoed on 1 July by German submarine U-86. Note the National Ensign flying from her flagstaff, lifeboat in the foreground, and tug at far right.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55508
Naval Historical Center
Covington 94k Sinking off Brest, France, 2 July 1918, the day after she was torpedoed by German submarine U-86.
Courtesy of the Reverend W.R. Siegart, 1927.
U.S. Navy photo NH 55509
Naval Historical Center
Covington 104k Sinking off Brest, France. She had been torpedoed by German submarine U-86 on 1 July 1918 and sank the next day. The ship's flag is still flying from her stern, just above the water.
U.S. Navy photo NH 61488
Naval Historical Center
Covington 75k Sinking off Brest, France, 2 July 1918 after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-86.
Photograph received from the U.S. Naval Library, Treasure Island, California, 1969.
U.S. Navy photo NH 67716
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The second Covington (No. 1409) was built in 1908 by F. Schichau, Danzig, Germany, as Cincinnati; interned by customs officials at Boston upon the entry of the United States into World War I, transferred to the Navy 26 July 1917; and commissioned 28 July 1917, Captain R. D. Hasbrouck in command.

Between 18 October 1917 and 1 July 1918 Covington made six voyages from Hoboken, N.J., to Brest, France, safely transporting more than 21,000 troops for service with the American Expeditionary Force. On 1 July 1918 she was torpedoed without warning by the German submarine U-86 off Brest; she sank the next day despite efforts to save her. The convoy escorts succeeded in rescuing all but six of her complement of 776.


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