USS Zirkel (ID-3407) was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

USS Zirkel
USS Zirkel in September 1918
History
United States
NameUSS Zirkel
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderMoore Shipbuilding Company, Oakland, California
Launched17 August 1918
Completed1918
Acquired27 September 1918
Commissioned27 September 1918
Decommissioned3 May 1919
FateReturned to United States Shipping Board, 3 May 1919; scrapped at Baltimore, Maryland, 1929
NotesBuilt for United States Shipping Board as SS Zirkel in 1918; in Shipping Board custody as SS Zirkel 1919-1929.
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage6,163 Gross register tons
Displacement12,700 tons
Length416 ft 6 in (126.95 m)
Beam53 ft 0 in (16.15 m)
Draft27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) mean
Speed10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement62

SS Zirkel was a Design 1015 ship built in 1918 at Oakland, California, for the United States Shipping Board by the Moore Shipbuilding Company. The U.S. Navy acquired her on 27 September 1918 for World War I service with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, assigned her Identification Number (Id. No.) 3407, and commissioned her the same day as USS Zirkel (Id. No. 3407) at San Francisco, California.

Zirkel got underway for the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of nitrates. Steaming via the Panama Canal, she arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 30 January 1919 and unloaded her cargo.

Following repairs to her turbines, Zirkel filled her holds with cotton, coffee, and steel and put to sea on 6 February 1919. After a 21-day voyage, she entered port at Liverpool, England, and began unloading her cargo.

Zirkel then took on about 800 tons of iron ore and headed back to the United States on 13 March 1919. On 29 March 1919, the freighter arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and, after unloading, began preparations for demobilization.

On 3 May 1919, Zirkel was decommissioned and was returned to the custody of the United States Shipping Board, once again becoming SS Zirkel. The Shipping Board retained her until she was sold to Union Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1929. Zirkel was towed from New York by the company's steamer Columbine, reaching the ship breaking yard in Baltimore on 20 August 1929.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Port Of Baltimore". Baltimore Sun. 21 August 1929. p. 22.