SS ''West Cressey'' was a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

- hulled

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that saw a brief period of service as an auxiliary with the U.S. Navy in the aftermath of World War I. ''West Cressey'' was built in 1918 for the United States Shipping Boards emergency wartime shipbuilding program. Delivered just too late to see service in the war, the ship was quickly commissioned into the Navy regardless, as USS ''West Cressey'' (ID-3813), but completed only two Navy missions—including a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

relief mission to Romania—before decommissioning a few months later. Through the 1920s, the ship operated in a commercial capacity as SS ''West Cressey''. She was laid up for much of the 1930s through lack of work, but eventually re-entered service in 1941 as mounting losses to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

U-boats in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

had increased the demand for shipping. Sold in 1943 to the Soviet Union under

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

, ''West Cressey'' was renamed SS ''Briansk I'' and later SS ''Tallin''. The ship survived the war, but was lost in a storm off Cape Kamchatsky in 1946.

Construction and design

''West Cressey'' was built in Seattle, Washington in 1918 by the

Skinner & Eddy Corporation The Skinner & Eddy Corporation, commonly known as Skinner & Eddy, was a Seattle, Washington-based shipbuilding corporation that existed from 1916 to 1923. The yard is notable for completing more ships for the United States war effort during Worl ...

—the 21st in a series of 24 Design 1013

s built by the company for the USSBs emergency wartime shipbuilding program."General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards"
, ''shipbuildinghistory.com''. The first ship launched from the company's No. 2 Plant, ''West Cressey''s launch took place on 21 September, just sixty days after the laying of her keel. ''West Cressey'' had a design deadweight tonnage of 8,800 tons and gross register tonnage of 5,600.Skinner & Eddy, Seattle WA
, ''shipbuildinghistory.com''. She had an overall length of 423 feet 9 inches, a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 24 feet 2 inches.
'' Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'', Naval History and Heritage Command website. The ship was powered by a

triple expansion A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

reciprocating

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

,West Cressey
''ellisisland.org''. driving a single screw propeller and delivering a speed of 11

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. Since the ship was completed too late to see wartime service, she was not provided with any armament.

Service history

U.S. Navy service, 1918-1919

''West Cressey'' was delivered to the Navy on 17 December 1918 and commissioned the same day at the Puget Sound Navy Yard for operation with the

Naval Overseas Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

(NOTS) as USS ''West Cressey'' (ID-3813).Silverstone, p. 234. ''West Cressey''s first and only voyage to Europe under Navy command began in January 1919 when the ship loaded a cargo of

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

bound for Romania as part of a postwar famine relief mission. Sailing for the

east coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

of the U.S. on 12 January, ''West Cressey'' transited the Panama Canal and arrived at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

on 2 February. Here the ship was delayed for a few days for alterations and repairs, until departing for the Mediterranean on the 12th. Calling at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

en route, ''West Cressey'' reached Constantinople, Turkey, on 10 March and discharged her cargo. She then loaded a large quantity of

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

to be used for medicinal purposes along with a cargo of tobacco for the return journey to the U.S., departing 27 March. By 28 April ''West Cressey'' was back in New York City. On 13 May 1919, she was decommissioned and returned to control of the U.S. Shipping Board, thus ending her brief career with the Navy.

Merchant service

Following her decommission, ''West Cressey'' was placed into mercantile service by the USSB as SS ''West Cressey''. Records of the ship's movements after this point are scarce. The vessel is known to have made a voyage from Rotterdam, the Netherlands to New York City in 1920 which indicates that she may have been engaged in regular transatlantic service.. She eventually was commercially operated by Page & Jones, Inc. (Mobile, Al.
Ellis Island Ship Database - West Cressey
''ellisislandrecords.org''. By 1927, the ship was operating for the Texas Oceanic Line, making a voyage in December of that year from

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

to Liverpool, England.Item details BT 26/842/85
''nationalarchives.gov.uk''. With the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1929, the scale of international trade fell sharply and many ships were mothballed in this period due to lack of work, ''West Cressey'' included. Laid up at New Orleans in the early 1930s, the USSB had ceased to maintain the vessel by 1933. Unlike many of her contemporaries however, ''West Cressey'' was to escape the scrap merchants' yard, and following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, steadily mounting losses of merchant ships to U-boats revived the demand for shipping tonnage. In order to help meet this demand, the successor to the USSB, the Maritime Commission, in addition to its orders for new tonnage, implemented a reconditioning program for older ships previously laid up. ''West Cressey'' became one of the ships so reconditioned, and in March 1941 she was placed back into service with the Grace Line for a monthly charter price of $16,486."Lines Bid On Four Ships: Maritime Commission's Laid-Up Fleet Is Source Of Vessels"
'' New York Times'', February 25, 1941 (subscription required)."Shipping News and Activities at Los Angeles Harbor"
'' Los Angeles Times'', March 2, 1941 (subscription required). Following this revival of fortune, ''West Cressey'' appears to have been employed for the next few months in a shuttle service between Los Angeles and Honolulu."Other 12"
''Los Angeles Times'', May 1, 1941 (subscription required).
''Los Angeles Times'', July 13, 1941 (subscription required). On 20 August 1941 the ship was purchased by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) and placed in service in Seattle, Washington operated by the

American Mail Line American Mail Line of Seattle, Washington was a commercial steamship service with routes to and from Seattle, Washington and the Far East. American Mail Line was founded in 1920, by Pacific Steamship Company also with a $500,000 investment from ...

acting as the WSA agent. From 19 May until 13 July 1942 the ship was operating under control of the United States Army in the Southwest Pacific Area without being assigned a local fleet X number. On 26 January 1943, ''West Cressey'' was transferred at San Francisco to the Soviet Union under

, and renamed SS ''Briansk I''. Her activities are not known after this point, but in 1945 she was renamed SS ''Tallin''. ''Tallin'' survived the war, but was stranded and lost off Cape Kamchatsky on 4 September 1946.Silverstone, p. 169.

References

Bibliography

*Pacific Ports Inc. (1919): ''Pacific Ports Annual'', Fifth Edition, 1919, pp. 64-65, 402-405, Pacific Ports Inc. *Silverstone, Paul H. (2006): ''The New Navy, 1883-1922'', Routledge, . *

External links

Arnold Hague Convoy Database
''convoyweb.org.uk''. (Click the "Ship Search" link and enter West Cressey for a list of known convoys in which the ship participated). {{DEFAULTSORT:West Cressey Ss 1918 ships Design 1013 ships Ships built by Skinner & Eddy Auxiliary ships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean