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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --
R. W. Wilmot (American Tug, 1898).
Served as USS R. W. Wilmot (ID # 604) in 1918
R. W. Wilmot, a 569 gross ton steam tug, was launched on 27 August 1898 by the Globe Iron Works in Cleveland, Ohio for W. G. Wilmot & Co. of New Orleans. At the time of her completion in September she was the most powerful seagoing tug in America. She replaced a similar tug named Robert W. Wilmot which was launched in 1897 and acquired by the Navy in 1898 as USS Potomac (later AT-50). Compared to her predecessor the new tug had 11 feet greater length, 2 feet more beam, and 1 foot greater depth, as well as 600 more horsepower. Her delivery voyage took her from Cleveland to New Orleans via the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic coast. By 1915 she was owned by the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Co. of Pittsburg, Pa.
R. W. Wilmot was acquired on 4 January 1918 from the River & Ocean Towing Co., Wilmington, Del., and placed in service on 26 January 1918. Designated for distant service, the tug served with the 5th Squadron, Patrol Force, in the mid-Atlantic-southern New England area until 9 March. On the 17th she steamed east and following her arrival in France, was placed out of service and transferred to that country's government on 4 April 1918. She became Loup Cervier in the French Navy. She was condemned at Brest on 30 June 1931 and sold or scrapped the same year.
This page features all available views of the tug R. W. Wilmot, which served as USS R. W. Wilmot in 1918.
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: None S.S. R. W. Wilmot (U.S. Tug, 1898) Shown in early 1899 lying off Wilmot & Co.'s dock at New Orleans. This image was reconstructed from an illustration covering two pages in a bound book. Source: Marine Review, 20 April 1899, page 17ff. |
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Photo #: None S.S. R. W. Wilmot (U.S. Tug, 1898) Alongside the Red River Line steamboat Imperial, probably at New Orleans. Imperial was built in 1894 to carry cotton and passengers from Shreveport to New Orleans. She was laid up for repairs in February 1911 and then lost. The port of registry of R. W. Wilmot is shown on her stern as "Pittsburg.Pa." As of 1915 she was owned by the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Co. of that city. Source: Shipscribe. |
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Photo #: None S.S. R. W. Wilmot (U.S. Tug, 1898) An enlargement of the portion of the preceding photograph that shows the tug. Source: Shipscribe. |
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