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. Franklin (American Collier, 1915)
Later S.S. Nevadan and S.S. Oakey L. Alexander

Franklin, a 5166 gross ton collier built in 1915 at Camden, New Jersey, was one of a series of eight similar ships built by the New York Shipbuilding Corp. between 1915 and 1918 for two U.S. coastal shipping firms, the Coastwise Transportation Co. and Darrow Mann Co. Five of these, Plymouth (ID # 3308), Fairmont (ID # 2429), Glen White (ID # 2068), Winding Gulf (ID # 3379), and William N. Page (ID # 3844) served in the Navy, while Franklin, Tidewater, and Sewalls Point did not. S.S. Franklin became Nevadan in 1921 and Oakey L. Alexander in 1926 and was wrecked on the Maine coast in March 1947.

This page features all available views concerning the American collier Franklin.

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

Photo #: NH 105262 S.S. Franklin (American collier, 1915) Franklin was completed at Camden, N.J. in 1915 and never served in the Navy. She is flying a flag on her foremast showing her name, a common practice during builder's trials. This photo was used on a Navy data card to represent USS Glen White (ID # 2068), a similar ship completed at Camden in May 1918 and commissioned on 22 July 1918. The name Tidewater written on the photo is of a third ship of this type that was completed at Camden in 1917 but saw no Navy service. Glen White was decommissioned on 6 March 1919. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 370 pixels

Related image:

Photo # NH 106016-B, a view showing, in its left background, a ship which may be Franklin.

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Page made 12 December 2007
New image added 6 December 2008