WWI Ship Name Index   Return to WWI Auxiliaries.

UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

S.S. Fenimore (American sidewheel steamer, 1892).
Originally named Frank Jones.
Served as USS Fenimore (ID # 2681) in 1918

The 1634 gross ton sidewheel paddle steamer Frank Jones was launched on 26 March 1892 by the New England Shipbuilding Co. at Bath, Maine with engines by the Bath Iron Works for service on the Maine coast. In 1905 she moved to Long Island Sound, and in 1908 she moved again to the Hudson River. She was renamed Fenimore in 1915 and was laid up pending sale.

Fenimore was chartered by the Navy in April 1918 and placed in service to transport supplies. On 21 June she arrived at York, Virginia, on the York River from Portsmouth, Va., bearing a cargo of gasoline, lube oil and ammunition which was then partially off-loaded. At 0155 of the 22nd, a fire of indeterminate cause raged through the ship, causing the death of two crew members and the loss of the vessel.

This page features all available views of the steamer Fenimore, which served as USS Fenimore in 1918.

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: None S.S. Frank Jones (U.S. steamer, 1892) Probably photographed early in her career. Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
Photo #: None S.S. Frank Jones (U.S. steamer, 1892) Photographed at an unknown date. This coastal steamship was chartered by the Navy in April 1918 as USS Fenimore (ID # 2681). She burned at a pier on the York River, Virginia, on 22 June 1918. Source: www.rustycans.com.

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Page made 16 August 2015