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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

James (SP 429)

James sank 28 April 1919

Menhaden Trawler / Minesweeper: Built in 1912 as W. T. James at Wilmington, DE; Acquired by the Navy in May 1917; Renamed James 28 July 1917; Commissioned USS James (SP 429) in August 1917; Sank, 28 April 1919; Struck from the Naval list, (date unknown).

Specifications: Displacement 267 t.; Length unknown; Beam unknown; Draft unknown; Speed unknown; Complement unknown; Armament unknown.


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Anderton 46k Off Lorient, France, in 1918. Three of these ships are identified as USS Anderton (SP-530), USS Lewes (SP-383) and USS James (SP-429).
USN Photograph NH 44900
Naval Historical Center
Anderton 79k Moored at Lorient, France, in 1918. These ships are identified as USS Anderton (SP-530), USS Lewes (SP-383) and USS James (SP-429). Anderton is the middle ship, with her smokestack immediately behind her pilothouse.
USN Photograph NH 44901
Naval Historical Center
Lewes 98k During a review of U.S. and French ships in Lorient harbor, France, 29 November 1918. The ship at left is USS Hubbard (SP-416). USS Anderton (SP-530) is in the center, with her smokestack immediately behind her pilothouse. Probably also present are USS Lewes (SP 383) and USS James (SP-429).
USN Photograph NH 53596
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: W.T. James, a 267 gross ton "Menhadden fisherman" type steam trawler, was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1912. She was taken over by the Navy in May 1917 for World War I service, converted for warlike duties and commissioned in August 1917. Under the terms of General Order # 314, issued in late July 1917, her name was officially shortened to James, but her original name, W.T. James, also continued in use. After crossing the Atlantic in late August and September, by way of the Azores, she began convoy escort operations off France. Later in 1917, James was refitted for minesweeping. Based at Lorient, she spent the rest of the First World War I, and the early months of the post-war era, in a constant effort to clear German submarine-laid mines, and also performed convoy and patrol duties until the 11 November 1918 Armistice removed the threat of direct submarine attack. On 27 April 1919, while en route back to the United States, she encountered heavy weather and began taking on water. An attempt to tow her back to Brest was unsuccessful and, after all of her crewmen were taken off, USS James sank off the French coast on the morning of 28 April.

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