USS ''Mexican'' (ID-1655) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

cargo ship and animal transport in commission from 1917 to 1919. She operated as the commercial steamship SS ''Mexican'' from 1907 to 1917 and from 1919 to 1948.

Construction

SS ''Mexican'' was built in 1907 at

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, by the

Union Iron Works Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries ...

as a commercial cargo ship for the

American-Hawaiian Steamship Company The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company was founded in 1899 to carry cargos of sugar from Hawaii to the United States and manufactured goods back to Hawaii. Brothers-in-law George Dearborn and Lewis Henry Lapham were the key players in the foun ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

World War I

The

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

acquired ''Mexican'' for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

service on a bareboat charter basis on 10 December 1917. On 23 December 1917, the Department of War transferred ''Mexican'' to the U.S. Navy, which gave her the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1655 and commissioned her the same day as USS ''Mexican''. Manned by U.S. Navy personnel and operated on a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

account, ''Mexican'' was assigned to 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 ...

and served as an

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

transport through the end of World War I. ''Mexican'' was in port at St. Nazaire,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 13 May 1918 when a fire broke out aboard her. Lookouts aboard the cargo ship USS ''Alaskan'' (ID-4542), lying directly astern of ''Mexican'', spotted the fire breaking out. ''Alaskan'' called away her fire and

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...

party, which aided ''Mexicans men in controlling the blaze before it did serious damage. On 13 December 1918, ''Mexican'' was transferred to the

Cruiser and Transport Force The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France. Composition On 1 July 1918, the Cruiser and Transport Force was ...

for use as a troop transport. Refitted for that purpose by the U.S. Army, she steamed on round-trip voyages from the

United States East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

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for several months in 1919, bringing American troops who had completed their war service in

home to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Navy returned ''Mexican'' to the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company on 4 August 1919. She returned to commercial service as SS ''Mexican''.

World War II

The U.S.

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

converted ''Mexican'' to an animal transport ship from late August to October 1944. Departing on 22 October 1944 she moved 648 mules and six

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s from

Port of New Orleans The Port of New Orleans is an embarkation port for cruise passengers. It is also Louisiana’s only international container port. The port generates $100 million in revenue annually through its four lines of business – cargo (46%), rail (31%) ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, a 58-day trip. For the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she moved mules and horses for the war effort.

Relief and "seagoing cowboys"

In 1946, ''Mexican'' was used as

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

ship, informally also called a " cowboy ship." From 1945 to 1947 the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...

and the Brethren Service Committee of the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germ ...

– which had founded its Heifers for Relief project, in 1942; in 1953 this became

Heifer International Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along wit ...

– sent livestock to war-torn countries in the aftermath of

. These "

seagoing cowboys Seagoing cowboys is a term used for men and ships used from 1945 to 1947 for United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the Brethren Service Committee of the Church of the Brethren that sent livestock to war-torn countries ...

" made about 360 trips on 73 different ships. SS ''Mexican'' was one of these ships, and she moved livestock across the Atlantic Ocean. ''Mexican'' made several trips and took horses, several thousand baby chicks, and bales of hay to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on each trip. ''Mexican'' moved horses, heifers, and mules as well as some chicks, rabbits, and goats.Seacowboys report
/ref>

Disposal

SS ''Mexican'' was scrapped in 1948.

References

* (for USS ''Mexican'' (ID-1655)) * (for USS ''Alaskan'' (ID-4542))
Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS ''Mexican'' (ID # 1655), 1917-1919. Previously, and later, the civilian freighter ''Mexican'' (1907)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mexican (Id-1655) World War I cargo ships of the United States Transports of the United States Navy Ships built in San Francisco 1907 ships Cargo ships of the United States Navy Ships built by Union Iron Works