USS West Point (ID-3254)

History
United States
Name	USS West Point
Namesake	West Point, New York
Builder	J. F. Duthie and Company, Seattle, Washington[1]
Launched	15 October 1917
Completed	January 1918
Acquired	5 August 1918
Commissioned	8 August 1918
Decommissioned	24 April 1919
Fate	Returned to U.S. Shipping Board
Notes	Operated as commercial cargo ship SS Westerner from 1919 Scrapped 1938
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Displacement	12,262 long tons (12,459 t)
Length	423 ft 0 in (128.93 m)
Beam	54 ft 0 in (16.46 m)
Draft	24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Depth	29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
Propulsion	One 2,700-ihp (1.864-mW) triple-expansion steam engine
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	124
Armament	1 × 6-inch (152-mm) gun 1 × 6-pounder (2.7 kg) gun

The first USS West Point (ID-3254) was a cargo ship of the United States Navy that served during World War I and its immediate aftermath.

West Point was laid down as the Design 1013 steel-hulled commercial cargo ship War Leopard by J. F. Duthie and Company in Seattle, Washington,^[1] for the United States Shipping Board. She was delivered to the Shipping Board in January 1918.^[1]

On 5 August 1918, West Point was transferred to the U.S. Navy for World War I service. Assigned the naval registry identification number 3254, she was commissioned on 8 August 1918 as USS West Point (ID-3254) at Brooklyn, New York.^[1]

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West Point departed New York City on 21 August 1918 bound for France with a cargo of 6,884 tons of general United States Army supplies. Arriving at Brest, France, on 7 September 1918, she moved to Pauillac the same day to discharge her cargo.

Making a return voyage to the United States, she arrived at New York City on 23 October 1918, loaded 5,532 tons of general U.S. Army supplies and departed on 4 November 1918 for Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France. During the crossing, the signing of the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918 ended the war.

Arriving at Le Verdon-sur-Mer on 23 November 1918, West Point unloaded and headed for the United States East Coast on 6 December 1918. She subsequently made one more voyage with cargo for Europe, departing Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 January 1919, unloading her cargo from 2 to 12 February 1919 at Brest, taking on 1,620 tons of steel rails, and reaching Newport News, Virginia, on 13 March 1919. Soon thereafter, she departed Newport News for Boston.

West Point was decommissioned at Boston on 24 April 1919 and was transferred back to the U.S. Shipping Board as SS West Point. She was scrapped in Hamburg, Germany in 1938.^[1]

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive West Point (ID 3254)