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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Barbarossa / Mercury (ID 3012)

Mercury served both the U. S. Navy and Army.

Transport: Built in 1896 as Barbarossa by Blohm and Voss, Hamburg, Germany; Acquired by the Navy 3 August 1917 and commissioned USS Barbarossa (ID 3012); Renamed Mercury, (date unknown); Decommissioned in 27 September 1919 and transferred to the War Department; Transferred to the United States Shipping Board in August 1920; Sold for scrap in February 1924.

Specifications: Displacement 19,500 t.; Length 544'; Beam 60'; Draft 26'; Speed 14 kts.; Complement 494; Armament two 1-pounders and two machine guns.


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Size Image Description Source
Mercury 65k Sailing in convoy during 1918. Photographed from USS Little (Destroyer # 79). Note the ship's pattern camouflage.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 46619
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 102k Alongside a pier at the New York Navy Yard, 1918. Note the ship's
pattern camouflage.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 63553
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 130k In a French port, probably St. Nazaire, in 1918. The transport at right is unidentified. Note trucks in the foreground, with a two-masted schooner beyond.
Courtesy of James Russell, 1980.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 98565
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 73k In a floating drydock, possibly in France, 1918. She is painted in
pattern camouflage.
Courtesy of James Russell, 1980.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 98564
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 104k Photographed from on board USS Little (DD-79) as it approached the harbor of Brest, France, on 26 October 1918. A French blimp is patrolling overhead. Another U.S. Navy destroyer is in the left distance. The original print bears U.S. Army Signal Corps markings.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 51343
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 93k In harbor, with a full load of troops, circa 1918-1919.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 46230
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 76k In a harbor, circa 1919
Courtesy of Mrs. W.A. Nightengale, 1971.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 46230
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 82k Underway in 1919, while bringing U.S. troops home from France.
Photographed by O.W. Waterman, Hampton, Virginia.
Courtesy of James Russell, 1980.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 91642
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 111k In drydock, circa 1919. Note men painting the ship's side, amidships.
Courtesy of Mrs. W.A. Nightengale, 1971.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 98576
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 153k In drydock, circa 1919. Note the decoration on the ship's stern, and the fire control structure erected above her after deckhouse. Men are painting the ship's side from stages suspended amidships.
Courtesy of Mrs. W.A. Nightengale, 1971.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 98577
Naval Historical Center
Mercury 70k In a harbor, circa 1919.
Courtesy of Mrs. W.A. Nightengale, 1971.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 98573
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The fourth Mercury (ID-3012), was built as SS Barbarossa by Blohm and Voss, Hamburg, Germany, in 1896, and operated by the North German Lloyd Line until she took refuge in Hoboken, N.J., at the outbreak of WW I. She was seized when the United States entered the war 6 April 1917; damage inflicted by her crew prior to seizure was repaired; and she was commissioned 3 August 1917, Comdr. H. L. Brinser in command. Shortly after commissioning she was renamed Mercury.

Mercury got underway for her first transatlantic troop ferrying mission 4 January 1918. Before the armistice 11 November 1918, she had completed seven voyages to France, carrying over 18,000 passengers. On July 1, 1918 the Mercury sailing in convoy with another troop transport ship, the USS Covington, came to the aid of the Covington when she was torpedoed. The Mercury took the Covington in tow but the Covington sank after gallant efforts from the Mercury. After the armistice, she reversed the flow of troops, making eight crossings to return more than 20,000 to the U.S. After completing her last crossing as a U.S. Navy ship 19 September 1919, she decommissoned and was turned over to the Army Transport Service 27 September 1919.


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