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Civilian call sign (1919): Love - King - Vice - Cast
Freighter:
Built in 1918 as War Cymbal by the Great Lakes Engine Works, Ashtabula, OH for the Cunard Steamship Co., Ltd., agent for the Shipping Controller, London, England
Renamed Lake Charlotte prior to completion
Acquired by the Navy 17 October 1918 at Cardiff, Wales and commissioned USS Lake Charlotte (ID 4394) the same day
Struck from the Navy Register 20 September 1919
Decommissioned 23 September 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board
Sold in 1927 to the Ford Motor Co. of River Rouge, MI and scrapped in 1928.
Specifications:
Displacement 2,239 t.
Length 261'
Beam 43' 6"
Draft 19' 9"
Speed 10 kts.
Complement 52
Armament: One 3"/50 mount
Propulsion: Two single ended boilers, one 1,300hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
Click on thumbnail for full size image
Size
Image Description
Source
War Cymbal
47k
Under construction
Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
USS Lake Charlotte (ID 4394)
114k
Crew members on board, circa 1918-1919. A hand-written inscription on the back of the original print reads: "Gun Crew & Radio Girls. Note uniform of the day." Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010 Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107313
Robert Hurst
View the Lake Charlotte (ID 4394) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website