SS Edward Luckenbach
24°57.830′N 81°53.270′W / 24.963833°N 81.887833°W
SS Edward Luckenbach around the time of her completion in 1916. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Edward Luckenbach |
| Owner | Luckenbach Steamship Company |
| Builder | Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Yard number | 248 |
| Launched | 14 September 1916 |
| Acquired | 28 November 1916 (delivery) |
| Commissioned | Navy: 29 August 1918 |
| Decommissioned | Navy: 6 August 1919 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk by mines 1 July 1942 |
| Notes | Commercial cargo ship 1916–1942; WW I chartered Army transport May 1917—August 1918, commissioned Navy transport August 1918-August 1919. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship and troop transport |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 15,963 tons |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 57 ft 2 in (17.42 m) |
| Draft | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Installed power | 3 X single ended boilers, |
| Propulsion | geared turbine, 4,000 s.h.p., 4,500 max s.h.p. |
| Speed | 15 knots |
| Complement | 62 |
| Armament | 2 × 5 in (127 mm) guns |
SS Edward Luckenbach was the first of five new cargo ships to be built for the Luckenbach Steamship Company by Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation. The ship was launched in September 1916, delivered in November and briefly operated as such before being requisitioned for World War I service. The ship was one of the cargo vessels in the first large convoy transporting U.S. Army forces to France. After that convoy the ship served as a U.S. Army Chartered Transport (USACT) until converted by the Army to a troop ship and turned over to the Navy a few months before the war's end. The Navy commissioned the ship as USS Edward Luckenbach assigning the miscellaneous identification number ID-1662 in August 1918. The transport made one wartime voyage with continued voyages returning the Army to the U.S. until August 1919.
Edward Luckenbach was returned to the company before mid September, 1919, resuming commercial service, mainly between New York and San Francisco. The ship sank 1 July 1942 after mistakenly enterering a defensive minefield north of Key West, Florida and striking two mines.