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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Herbert L. Pratt (ID 2339)


Tanker: Built in 1918 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA; Acquired by the Navy 2 June 1918; Strunk a mine 3 June 1918 off Cape Henlopen, DE while being delivered to the Navy; Repaired at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and commissioned 10 June 1918; Decommissioned 18 January 1919 at New York and returned to her owner, the Atlantic Refining Co.; Sold for scrap in 1946.

Specifications: Displacement 7,150 t.; Length 435'; Beam 56'; Draft 27'; Speed 11 kts.; Complement unknown; Armament one 6-pounder.


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Size Image Description Source
Herbert L. Pratt 104k Photographed circa 1918.
U.S. Navy photo NH 65116-A
Naval Historical Center
Herbert L. Pratt 81k Under salvage after hitting a mine, June 1918. By the time this view was taken buoyancy had been restored to the ship's forward section and she had raised steam in preparation for going to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs. Note the diagonal line on her hull, sloping down and aft from the quarterdeck break, representing the degree to which her bow had been submerged.
Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972.
U.S. Navy photo NH 83121
Naval Historical Center
Herbert L. Pratt 89k Under salvage after striking a mine off Cape Henlopen, southeast of Lewes, Delaware, on 3 June 1918. Note the tug alongside.
U.S. Navy photo NH 14
Naval Historical Center
Herbert L. Pratt 105k Under salvage after she hit a mine on 3 June 1918.
U.S. Navy photo NH 53528
Naval Historical Center
Herbert L. Pratt 130k Under salvage after striking a mine on 3 June 1918. Note the degree to which her bow is submerged, a situation soon corrected by the salvors.
U.S. Navy photo NH 53529
Naval Historical Center
Herbert L. Pratt 113k Hull damage sustained when the ship struck a mine on 3 June 1918. Photographed while drydocked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 12 June 1918. Though clearly only in the earliest stages of repairs, she had been placed in commission two days earlier. Note men in skiff by the damaged area, and hull plating with holes from sheared rivets.
U.S. Navy photo NH 53527
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Herbert L. Pratt was acquired from the Atlantic Refining Co. and commissioned at Philadelphia 10 June 1918, Lt. Comdr. A. H. Peterson in command.

Taking on a full cargo of fuel oil, she sailed for France on 30 July, arriving in Brest on 2 September via New York and Halifax. At Brest she discharged her cargo to American destroyers and other ships, returning to New York 28 September. A second transatlantic voyage, from New York to Plymouth, England, occupied Herbert L. Pratt from 17 October to 11 December 1918.

The tanker decommissioned at New York 18 January 1919 and was returned to her former owner.


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