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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Yale (ID # 1672), 1918-1920.
Served as USS Greyhound (IX-106) in 1943-1944.
Originally S.S. Yale (American Coastal Passenger Ship,
1906)
S.S. Yale, a 3731 gross ton coastal passenger ship, was built by the Delaware River Shipbuilding Company in 1906. In March 1918 the U.S. Navy acquired her from the Pacific Steamship Company of Seattle, Washington, placing her in commission later in that month as USS Yale (ID # 1672). Following shipyard work at Mare Island, California, to suit her for employment as a coastal troop transport, she carried Marines to Nicaragua in May, then continued on to the East Coast by way of the Panama Canal. Yale steamed across the Atlantic in July 1918 and began service carrying troops and other passengers between southern England and English Channel ports in France. This important work continued for the remainder of World War I and for several months after the 11 November 1918 Armistice. Returning to the U.S. in May 1919, she conducted passenger operations along the Eastern Seaboard for three more months. USS Yale was decommissioned in early September 1919 and, in June 1920, sold for commercial operation along the Pacific Coast.
Though Yale was laid up in 1935, the National Emergency resulting from the outbreak of World War II in Europe brought her back into use in 1940, this time as a dormitory ship in Alaskan waters. The Navy again acquired her in April 1943 and in August she was commissioned as USS Greyhound (IX-106). Decommissioned at the end of March 1944, she remained in Navy service as a floating barracks in the Puget Sound area until March 1948. The old steamship was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission later in that year and sold for scrapping in June 1949.
Until 1920 Harvard and her sister Yale could be distinguished by the configuration of the superstructure deck under the front of the pilot house. In Yale it formed a relatively narrow walkway with a ladder slanting down from its front edge to the forecastle deck below, while in Harvard it formed a larger platform with the ladder descending through a rectangular opening in the deck. When the two ships were reconditioned in 1920-1921 the area under the pilot house became an observation parlor and the superstructure deck arrangement of Yale was adopted for both ships. At the same time "B" deck at the stern was enclosed to form a veranda cafe-ballroom, with "C" deck remaining open below it.
This page features all available views concerning USS Yale (ID # 1672), USS Greyhound (IX-106), and the civilian coastal passenger ship Yale.
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: None S.S. Yale (American coastal passenger ship, 1906) Photographed before World War I. Source: Shipscribe. |
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Photo #: NH 105614 S.S. Yale (American coastal passenger ship, 1906) Halftone reproduction of a pre-World War I publicity photograph of the "Turbine Steamships Yale and Harvard". The name on the bow appears to be Yale. S.S. Yale served as USS Yale (ID # 1672) in 1918-1920 and as the barracks ship USS Greyhound (IX-106) in 1943-1948. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 310 pixels |
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Photo #: None S.S. Yale (American coastal passenger ship, 1906) A prewar photo retouched to represent S.S. Yale circa the 1920s. Source: Shipscribe. |
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Photo #: None S.S. Yale (American coastal passenger ship, 1906) Shown while in service with the Pacific Navigation Co. between 1910 and 1916. Source: Navsource. |
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Photo #: NH 89788 S.S. Yale (American Coastal Passenger Ship, 1906) Underway while under charter to the Admiral Line in 1916-1918. This ship served as USS Yale (ID # 1672) in 1918-1920 and as USS Greyhound (IX-106) in 1943-1944. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 325 pixels |
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Photo #: None USS Yale (ID # 1672) and USS Charles (ID # 1298) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif. on 14 April 1918 being fitted for naval service. This image is cropped from a view of submarines USS L-7 (SS-46) and L-6 (SS-45). Source: Navsource, credited to Darryl Baker. |
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Photo #: None USS Yale (ID # 1672) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif. in early 1918 prior to being painted in pattern camouflage. Source: Navsource, credited to Darryl Baker. |
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Photo #: NH 103410 USS Yale (ID # 1672) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 May 1918, after being refitted for Naval service. She is painted in pattern camouflage. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 58KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 106360 (detail) USS Yale (ID # 1672) In port circa mid-1919. The ship in the foreground is USS Philippines (ID # 1677). Courtesy of Commander Peter Joseph Walter, USN (Retired), 2008. Cropped from a U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. |
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Photo #: None S.S. Yale (American coastal passenger ship, 1906) Photographed circa the 1920s passing the Northwestern Pacific sidewheeler Cazadero, probably in San Francisco Bay. Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-MC box 1. |
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Photo #: NH 103844 S.S. Yale (American Coastal Passenger Ship, 1906) Steams past the Breakwater Lighthouse at San Pedro, California, during the 1920s or early 1930s. Taken by Sunset Photo. This steamer twice served in the U.S. Navy, as USS Yale (ID # 1672) during the World War I era and as USS Greyhound (IX-106) during World War II. Collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, USN. Donated by Lieutenant Colonel Russell DeSomer, U.S. Air Force (Retired), 1975. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 440 pixels |
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Related image: Photo # NH 105958 is an image of a ship identified as USS Yale in pattern camouflage in European waters. It is actually a view of USS Charles.
NOTES:
Return to WWI Auxiliaries.Page made 30 January 2006