USS ''Margaret'' (ID-2510) – shortly thereafter known as USS ''Chatham'' (ID-2510) -- was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was used to carry cargo to Allied troops in Europe until the war's end when she was returned to the

U.S. Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

for disposition.

Leased in New York

''Margaret'', a 3,372 gross ton (7,523 tons displacement) freighter, was built at Sparrows Point, Maryland, in 1916. She was acquired on charter by the Navy from A. H. Bull Steamship Company,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

, 13 March 1918. She was commissioned in the Navy at New York City, as USS ''Margaret'' (ID # 2510) on 25 March 1918. ''Margaret'' was assigned to the

3rd Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

under

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 ...

and was renamed USS ''Chatham'' on 18 April 1918, probably to avoid confusion with several other U.S. Navy vessels of the same name, most notably the converted yacht ''Margaret'' (SP-527).

World War I service

On the same date, the freighter arrived in the

Gironde River The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Gar ...

in France at the end of her first transatlantic convoy voyage from New York carrying Army supplies for the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

. ''Chatham'' made four more such trips, delivering French steel billets and supplies for the Motor Transportation Corps to Le Havre in June for the Army of Occupation, general cargo to

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

in August and October, and more general cargo to Brest in December.

Post-service demobilization

Upon returning to New York in late December 1918, she entered a shipyard for a complete overhaul and was soon designated for demobilization. USS ''Chatham'' was decommissioned on 10 February 1919 and transferred to the

Subsequent maritime career

''Chatham'' was returned to her owners, the A.H. Bull Steamship Company of New York City. Reverting to the name ''Margaret'', the ship appears to have continued to serve her original owners until she was sunk, without survivors, by the German

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

'' U-571'' on 14 April 1942 off Cape Hatteras.

References

*
Chatham

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margaret World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Cargo ships of the United States Navy Maritime incidents in April 1942 World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1916 ships