USS Rappahannock (AF-6)
Encyclopedia
USS Rappahannock (AF-6) was an Rappahannock-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for use in World War I
. She served in the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean
, delivering animals, such as horses and steers on-the-hoof, to American Expeditionary Force
troops in Europe
.
.
until struck from the Navy list
19 July 1933. She was sold to the Luckenbach Steamship Co., New York City on 5 October 1933; was renamed SS William Luckenbach; and operated under that name through World War II. Sold to an Italian firm in November 1946, she continued her merchant service under the Italian flag through the end of the decade.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. She served in the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, delivering animals, such as horses and steers on-the-hoof, to American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
troops in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Acquiring an enemy’s ship
The first Rappahannock (Id. No. 1854) was launched in 1913 as SS Pommern by the Bremer-Vulcan yards, Vegesack, Germany. She was the third freighter of the Rheinland-Class built for the Australian Freight Line via the Cape of the North German Lloyd Line. SS Pommern was voluntarily interned in the Honolulu after the outbreak of World War I in Europe and was seized when America entered the war. She was then assigned to the Navy by the U.S. Shipping Board; converted; delivered to the Navy 7 December 1917; renamed Rappahannock; and commissioned 8 December 1917.Horses and steers for U.S. troops in Europe
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service as an animal transport, Rappahannock completed her fourth transatlantic run to France on 16 November 1918, 5 days after the ArmisticeArmistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
.
Post-World War I operations
Remaining in NOTS until transferred to Train, Atlantic Fleet, on 4 February 1919, she completed one more round-trip from New York to Europe before being assigned temporary reserve status at Portsmouth in the summer of 1919. She was returned to active status in June 1922 with the designation AF-6 and, for the next 2½ years, carried cargo for both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.Final decommissioning and World War II service
Rappahannock decommissioned 10 December 1924 and remained in reserve at Mare IslandMare Island
Mare Island is a peninsula in the United States alongside the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the east side of San Pablo Bay. Mare Island is considered a peninsula because no full...
until struck from the Navy list
Navy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
19 July 1933. She was sold to the Luckenbach Steamship Co., New York City on 5 October 1933; was renamed SS William Luckenbach; and operated under that name through World War II. Sold to an Italian firm in November 1946, she continued her merchant service under the Italian flag through the end of the decade.