USS Pequot (ID-2998)

USS Pequot (ID-2998) was a German cargo steamship that the US Government seized in 1917 after the US entry into the First World War. She briefly served in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. In 1923 her original owner, DDG Hansa, chartered her and then bought her back.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Pequot.
the ship as Ockenfels in 1910
History
Name
  • Ockenfels (1910–18)
  • Pequot (1918–23)
  • Argenfels (1923–32)
Namesake
Owner
Operator
  • DDG Hansa (1910–17, 1923–32)
  • NOTS (1918–19)
Port of registryBremen (1910–17, 1923–32)
BuilderJoh. C. Tecklenborg, Geestemünde
Yard number235
Launched9 April 1910
Completed28 May 1910
Commissionedinto US Navy 28 October 1918
Strickenfrom US Navy 11 July 1919
Identification
Captured6 April 1917
FateScrapped 1933
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage5,685 GRT 3,540 NRT
Displacement12,500 tons
Length421.0 ft (128.3 m)
Beam55.1 ft (16.8 m)
Draft31 ft 3 in (9.53 m)
Depth28.7 ft (8.7 m)
Decks2
Installed power517 NHP
Propulsion4-cyl quadruple-expansion engine
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement70 (in US Navy service)
Crew63 (in civilian service)
Armament

The ship was launched in 1910 as Ockenfels, and was the second of three DDG Hansa ships to bear that name. She was one of a series of eight sister ships built for DDG Hansa. The others were Birkenfels and Freienfels launched in 1910, Kandelfels, Sturmfels and Huberfels launched in 1912 and Lauterfels and Spitzfels launched in 1913.

She is the second ship to serve as USS Pequot. The first USS Pequot was a gunboat in the American Civil War.

In 1921 DDG Hansa took delivery of a new Ockenfels. Therefore when the company bought back Pequot in 1923 it gave her the new name Argenfels.

Building

Joh. C. Tecklenborg built Ockenfels in Geestemünde, which is now part of Bremerhaven.[1] She was launched on 9 April 1920 and completed on 28 May. She had a four-cylinder quadruple-expansion engine that was rated at 517 NHP[1] and gave her a speed of 11 kn (20 km/h). For handling cargo she had one 25-ton derrick, eight five-ton derricks and three three-ton derricks.[2]

Service history
Ockenfels' forecastle in June 1917, after the US Government seized her, with a 3"/50 caliber gun mounted on her starboard bow

On 1 August 1914 after the First World War began Ockenfels was interned in Boston. On 6 April 1917 after the USA entered the First World War the US Government seized her in New York City. However, her German crew sabotaged her main engine and repairs were not completed until late in 1918.[2]

The US Shipping Board bareboat chartered the ship to the US Navy. She was defensively armed with one 5 in (130 mm) gun and one 3 in (76 mm) gun. On 28 October 1918 the ship was commissioned as USS Pequot under the command of Lt Cdr John Decry, USNR. A fortnight later the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the war.

Pequot served in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service carrying general cargo for both the US Army and the US Shipping Board. On 11 July 1919 she was struck from the Navy List and returned to the Shipping Board.

The ship as Argenfels in 1924

In 1923 the California Steamship Company bought Pequot, registered her in Panama and almost immediately chartered her to DDG Hansa. On 28 June 1923 she was in Cardiff, Wales when DDG Hansa bought her back.[2]

By then DDG Hansa had a new Ockenfels so it renamed her Argenfels. She spent a decade in DDG Hansa service and was sold for scrap in 1932.[1]

References
  1. "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. II. Lloyd's Register. 1932. Retrieved 11 November 2020 – via Plimsoll Ship Data.
  2. Kiehlmann, Peter. "D/S Ockenfels (2)". Deutsche Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft "HANSA" Bremen (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2020.

Bibliography
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