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Civilian Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

USAT Irvin L. Hunt
ex-USS Edenton (ID 3696)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Pup - Dog - Mike


Edenton served both the U. S. Navy and Army

Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 by the Skinner and Eddy Corp., Seattle, WA
  • Launched 19 November 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy 5 December 1918 and commissioned USS Edenton (ID 3696)
  • Decommissioned 12 May 1919 at New Orleans, LA and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Acquired by the War Department in February 1941 and assigned to the Army Transport Service Pacific Fleet with home port at Fort Mason, CA
  • Renamed USAT Irvin L. Hunt 8 March 1941 in honor of Col. Irvin L. Hunt, Q.M.C., who died 21 August 1933 at Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, DC
  • Scheduled for further transfer to the U.S. Navy, and assigned the hull number AK-38, but remained in Army service through the Second World War and for more than a year after the conflict's end
  • Once the Army's need for her had ended Irvin L. Hunt was returned to the Maritime Commission and again renamed Edenton
  • She was placed in reserve at Astoria, Oregon in January 1947
  • Sold for scrap in March 1948.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 13,627 t.
    1941 - 6,958 t.
  • Length 423' 10"
  • Beam 54'
  • Draft 26' 9"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Propulsion: Three single-ended boilers, one 2,500shp Curtis geared steam turbine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Edenton 703k Stranded in the Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies, in 1941. Two Dutch tugs are visible beyond her stern, working to refloat her
    Courtesy of J. Bos, 1973
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 98483    		 Robert Hurst
    Edenton 74k Stranded in the Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies, in 1941. A Dutch tug is visible beyond her stern, working to refloat her
    Courtesy of J. Bos, 1973
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 98484
    Edenton 93k Stranded in the Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies, in 1941, with two Dutch tugs working to refloat her. Photographed from on board one of the tugs.
    Courtesy of J. Bos, 1973.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 98485
    Edenton 123k Enlarged view of above photo
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 98485    		 Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Ernest F. Kennedy, USNRF5 December 1918 - 12 May 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Edenton (ID 3696)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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