SS West View

USS West View, also spelled Westview, was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

SS West View in port ca. autumn 1918.
History
United States
Name	USS West View
Builder	Northwest Steel Company, Portland, Oregon
Launched	26 August 1918
Completed	1918
Acquired	21 November 1918
Commissioned	21 November 1918
Decommissioned	20 January 1919
Stricken	20 January 1919
Fate	Transferred to United States Shipping Board 20 January 1919
Notes	In reserve with U.S. Shipping Board and U.S. Maritime Commission as SS West View 1919-ca. 1938 Scrapped ca. 1938
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,808 GRT
Length	428 ft (130 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draft	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Depth	29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	10 knots
Complement	82
Armament	None

SS West View was built in 1918 as a commercial cargo ship at Portland, Oregon by the Northwest Steel Company for the United States Shipping Board. Although she was never assigned a naval registry identification number, she was delivered to the Navy on 21 November 1918 and commissioned the same day as USS West View at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West View departed the West Coast of the United States with a cargo of 7,200 tons of flour. Voyaging via the Panama Canal, she arrived at New York City on 12 January 1919.

After this lone voyage, West View was decommissioned at New York City on 20 January 1919 and was transferred to the United States Shipping Board and stricken from the Navy List the same day.

Once again SS West View, she lay in reserve in the James River in Virginia in the custody of the U.S.Shipping Board and its successor, the United States Maritime Commission until ca. 1938, when she probably was scrapped due to age and deterioration.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: S.S. West View (American Freighter, 1918). Served as USS West View in 1918–1919. Name also spelled Westview
• Photo gallery of SS West View at NavSource Naval History