USS Charles

USS Charles (ID-1298) was a troop transport that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1920 and was briefly in commission as USS Harvard in 1918 and 1920. She was better known in her role as passenger liner SS Harvard, one of the premier West Coast steamships operated by the Los Angeles Steamship Company.

For other ships named USS Harvard, see USS Harvard.

USS Charles at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, on 1 June 1918. The paint scheme is dazzle camouflage.
History
United States
Name
  • USS Harvard 9 April 1918-11 April 1918
  • USS Charles 11 April 1918–29 July 1920
  • USS Harvard 29 July 1920-14 October 1920
Namesake
  • Harvard, a previous name retained;
  • Charles, a masculine proper name.
BuilderDelaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania
Launched30 January 1907
Completed1907
Acquired
  • Commandeered 21 March 1918
  • Purchased 28 August 1918
Commissioned9 April 1918
Decommissioned10 June 1920
Fate
  • Sold 14 October 1920;
  • Returned to commercial service;
  • Wrecked 30 May 1931
NotesServed as commercial passenger ship SS Harvard 1907–1918 and 1920–1931
General characteristics
TypeTroop transport
Tonnage3,731[1] or 3,737[2] Gross register tons
Length403 ft (123 m)
Beam51 ft 3 in (15.62 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
PropulsionSteam engine
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Complement211

Construction

The passenger ship SS Harvard was built in 1907 for the Metropolitan Steamship Company as Yard No. 334 by the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works at Chester, Pennsylvania, following her sister-ship Yale. She was launched on 30 January 1907 and entered service the following month.[3]

Harvard's registered length was 376.0 ft (114.6 m), her beam was 61.0 ft (18.6 m) and her depth was 20.0 ft (6.1 m), and she was measured as 3,737 GRT and 2,817 NRT.[4] The ship was driven by triple screw propellers, each powered by a steam turbine made by W. & A. Fletcher Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, which gave her a service speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h) knots.[3][4]

The U.S. Navy commandeered her on 21 March 1918 for World War I service, assigned her the registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1298, outfitted her for service as a troop transport at Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, and commissioned her as USS Harvard (ID-1298) on 9 April 1918. On 11 April 1918 she was renamed USS Charles (ID-1298). The Navy later (on 28 August 1918) purchased Charles outright from her owners.

Departing Mare Island, Charles reached Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 26 June 1918. There she loaded troops and departed Newport News, Virginia, for Brest, France, on 10 July 1918. She arrived at Brest on 21 July 1918.

On 27 July 1918, Charles reported at Southampton, England, for duty as a ferry for troops crossing the English Channel. She made about 60 voyages between Southampton and Le Havre or Boulogne, France, carrying troops of all nationalities bound for action at the front during the war or for occupation duty after it ended, until 5 May 1919.

Her ferrying duties completed, Charles embarked passengers at Rotterdam in the Netherlands and at Brest for transportation to the United States, and on 15 June 1919, arrived at New York City. Her support of United States Army operations in Europe at an end, Charles arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 24 July 1919, and was decommissioned there on 10 June 1920.

Angled side view of sinking steamship S. S. Harvard on Point Arguello, Calif., 1931.

Return to civil use

Reverting to her original name, Charles was renamed USS Harvard on 29 July 1920. She was considered for conversion into a seaplane tender, but this was never carried out, and instead she was sold on 14 October 1920.

She and her sister Yale were modernized for $8,000,000, before inaugurating the new overnight passenger and cargo ferry service for the Los Angeles Steamship Company between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1921 as high-speed luxury liners.

Wreck

Once again SS Harvard resumed commercial service, however she was stranded and wrecked at Point Arguello, California, on 30 May 1931.[5]

See also

Notes
  1. Per Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/id1298.htm
  2. Per Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c6/charles.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/171298.htm
  3. "Harvard (2204372)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping: Vol 1, Steamers. Lloyd's Register. 1908. p. HAR-HAS 454. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. The statement in her NavSource Online entry at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/171298.htm that the year of her stranding was 30 May 1923 appears to be a typographical error induced by the mention at her Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images entry (at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/id1298.htm) that her wreck occurred near the spot were seven U.S. Navy destroyers had been wrecked on 8 September 1923

References

34°38′29.6″N 120°37′34.4″W

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