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UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --
S.S. Gold Shell (American Tanker, 1916).
Served as USS Gold Shell (ID # 3021) in 1917-1919
Gold Shell, a 5614 gross ton (12,000 tons displacement) tanker, was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1916. On 10 July of that year, while in the Bay of Biscay, she struck a mine and was damaged. Following repairs, she was chartered by the Navy for World War I service and, in August 1917, placed in commission as USS Gold Shell (with the registry ID # 3021 being assigned to her about a year later). For the rest of 1917 and nearly all of 1918 the ship transported fuel oil across the Atlantic from the United States to France and the British Isles. The last of nine such voyage ended in December 1918, and Gold Shell spent the next three months at New York. She was decommissioned in early March 1919 and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her owners, the Shell Oil Company.
This page features all available views concerning the tanker Gold Shell of 1916, which was USS Gold Shell (ID # 3021) in 1917-1919.
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: NH 104071 S.S. Gold Shell (American Tanker, 1916) Possibly photographed on 10 August 1917, when she was inspected by the Third Naval District. She was already USS Gold Shell (ID # 3021) by that date. Built in 1916 by Harlan and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware, this ship was chartered by the Navy for World War I service and placed in commission on 8 August 1917. She was decommissioned on 5 March 1919 and returned to her owner, the Shell Oil Company. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 32KB; 740 x 265 pixels |
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Related image: The original captioning for Photo # NH 70462, a photograph of S.S. Silver Shell, describes her as a sister ship of S.S. Gold Shell.
Return to WWI Auxiliaries.Page made 19 December 2006