USS Bali

On 9 April Bali resumed her transatlantic crossing with a later convoy, but still failed to maintain speed well enough to keep up, so on 16 April she put in to Halifax, Nova Scotia for repairs. On 28 April she resumed her voyage, on 14 May she reached Brest, France. The next day she reached Saint-Nazaire, but the port was crowded, so she had to wait for a berth, and was abler to discharge only part of her cargo. On 6 June she went up the Loire estuary to Nantes, where German prisoners of war were being used to unload ships. She discharged the rest of her cargo, and on 15 June returned down the Loire. The next day she joined a westbound convoy, which called briefly at Brest. On 18 June she left France, and on 2 July she reached Hoboken, New Jersey.[5]

Bali loaded 6,759 tons of general cargo, and on 18 July she left port. The next day she reached Hampton Roads, Virginia and moored alongside USS Mississippi at Norfolk Navy Yard. There, Bali was fitted with one 5-inch/51-caliber gun that had been removed from the battleship Arkansas, and one 6-pounder that had been removed from the cruiser Raleigh. On the morning of 21 July she left the Navy yard and joined a convoy, which left that afternoon for France.[5]

At sea in the North Atlantic on 8 August, Bali observed a steamship to starboard sounding a submarine warning and opening fire on a "suspicious object" in the water. Bali opened fire with her forward gun, but neither ship scored any hits. She anchored in Quiberon Bay on 10 August, continued to La Pallice, and then reached Bordeaux on 13 August. She discharged her cargo, left Bordeaux on 21 August and reached New York on 5 September.[5]

Bali was sent to Hoboken on 6 September, where she loaded 6,887 tons of general cargo and her engine was repaired. After a trial trip on 16 September, she left on 18 September for France. On 5 October she reached Verdon Roads, where she discharged part of her cargo to a barge. On 9 October she berthed at Bordeaux to finish unloading. She waited a number of days for a return convoy to be formed. She departed west again on the afternoon of 24 October and reached New York on 7 November.[5]

Word of the impending armistice with the Central Powers delayed the installation of stalls for her to transport horses. However, three days after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, she docked at the Bush Docks in Hoboken, New Jersey, where she was modified to carry 600 horses. She then embarked the animals and loaded 2,551 tons of general cargo. On 30 November she left for France. On 14 December she reached Verdon Roads on 14 December, and then went up the Gironde estuary, reaching Bordeaux on 16 December. There she discharged her cargo and loaded steel rails for ballast. Two days after Christmas 1918 she returned down the Gironde to start her return voyage to the US.[5]

Bali anchored in Hampton Roads late on 11 January 1919, and moored at Newport News, Virginia, the next day. Workmen came aboard and removed the horse stalls on 13 and 14 January. On the afternoon of 15 January she entered the shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock, where her guns were removed.[5]

On 23 January she moved to the Engineer Depot dock at Lambert's Point, where she unloaded her steel rail ballast. On 28 January berthed off Sewall's Point. The next day, a flood tide and strong breeze caused her to drag her anchors and drift down on the cargo ship Bonafan. The collision caused little damage to either ship, and Bali steamed away under her own power. After bunkering on 31 January, she sailed for Baltimore on 3 February.[5]

On 1 February 1919 Bali was transferred from the NOTS Army Account to the Shipping Board Account. On 4 February she reached Baltimore. There she loaded 7,458 tons of US Food Administration flour, peas, and beans for European relief, and had "otter gear" installed for minesweeping. On 14 February she left Baltimore, and on 7 March she reached Copenhagen, where she discharged her cargo.[5]

On 20 March she left Denmark for England. She went via the Kiel Canal and Heligoland, and on 23 March reached Great Yarmouth to await a pilot. She continued to Harwich, and was in Plymouth from 25 to 29 March. She returned to the US in ballast, reached New York on 10 April, and moored at Jersey City, New Jersey that afternoon. She moved to the Morgan Pier on 17 April and Shewan's Drydock on 19 April, where she was repaired on 19 and 20 April.[5]

On 22 April Bali moved to the West Shore Railroad Dock, where she loaded a cargo of lard and flour. She left on 29 April, called briefly at Falmouth for orders on 11 May, and reached Hamburg on the morning of 16 May.[5]

On the morning of 24 May Bali reached Amsterdam. On 27 May she entered the Amsterdamsche Drydock Company's dry dock. At Amsterdam on 30 May 1919 she was simultaneously decommissioned, struck from the Navy list, and returned to her owners.[5]