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Civilian Identification Numbered Photo Archive

Cape May (ID 3520)



Navy call sign:
George - Fox - Watch - Rush



Civilian call sign:
Love - Nan - King - Jig
Freighter:

  • Built as War Saturn in 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Ltd., Sparrows Point, MD
  • Renamed Cape May prior to completion
  • Completed in October 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 24 October 1918
  • Commissioned USS Cape May (ID 3520), 25 October 1918
  • Decommissioned 25 August 1919 at Norfolk, VA and returned to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) the same day
  • Sold in 1920 to the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Steamship Corp. of Baltimore, MD
  • Repossessed by the USSB in 1922
  • Sold in 1925 to the Matson Navigation Company and renamed Maliko
  • Sold in 1947 to Wallen and Co. of Hong Kong and renamed Shahin
  • Sold in 1948 to the Bharat Line, Ltd. of Bombay, India and renamed Bharateatlia
  • Scrapped in 1953 in Japan.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 14,469 t.
  • Length 429' 7¾"
  • Beam 53' 6"
  • Draft 29' 6½"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 52
  • Armament: One 4"/50 and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Four single ended boilers, one 4,000ihp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Cape May (ID 3520)
    Cape May 75k Off the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland, on 8 November 1918
    U.S. Navy photo NH 796    		 Naval Historical Center
    Cape May 115k Arriving at the Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, New York, with troops on board, after a voyage from France in 1919. The harbor passenger steamer Ursula is in the foreground. Probably photographed from on board USS Santa Paula (ID 1590)
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    Naval Historical Center photos NH 103560 and NH 103561    		 Robert Hurst
    Cape May 93k
    SS Cape May
    Cape May 76k In merchant service between 1919 and 1926
    Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105909    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Herbert R. 0. Johnston, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1918)25 October 1918
    02LCDR Henry L. Thompson, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Cape May (ID 3520)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
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