WWI Ship Name Index   Return to WWI Auxiliaries.


Photo # NH 43047: USS Plattsburg at the New York Navy Yard, June 1918

U.S. NAVY TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS, 1917-1919

WORLD WAR I ERA TRANSPORTS --
with Clipper Bows, Two Smokestacks and Two or Three Masts

A nearly-identical pair of WWI era U.S. Navy transports featured distinctive "clipper" bows (every other ship in this category had a "plumb" bow). These were elderly ships, completed in the late 1880s with three smokestacks, and named City of Paris (later Paris) and City of New York (later New York). Both served in the Navy during the Spanish-American War as (respectively) USS Yale and USS Harvard. They were rebuilt in the early 1900s, with two tall smokestacks replacing the original trio, and Paris was renamed Philadelphia. The two ships operated as civilian-manned troopships during the first part of World War I, but were transferred to the Navy in 1918 and commissioned as USS Harrisburg and USS Plattsburg (existing U.S. Navy ships already bore the names Philadelphia and New York).

Though quite similar in appearance, Harrisburg had lost her mainmast prior to entering U.S. Navy service, leaving her with only two masts. Plattsburg still had three, though at some point in late 1917 or early 1918 the middle one was cut down to about half its original height.

This page features a table (with links to individual ships) of World War I era U.S. Navy transports with clipper bows, two smokestacks and two or three masts, plus one photograph of each ship in this group.


Click the small photographs to prompt a larger view of the same image with a descriptive header.


Ships in this group:

TWO SHIPS -- CLIPPER BOWS, TWO SMOKESTACKS and TWO or THREE MASTS:

  • Harrisburg, USN 1918-1919 (ex-American S.S. Philadelphia, 1889).
    • 10,232 Gross Tons, Length 527.6', Beam 63.2', Comm. 29 May 18, Decom. 25 Sep 19, ID # 1663
    Two tall masts
  • Plattsburg, USN 1918-1919 (ex-American S.S. New York, 1888).
    • 10,080 Gross Tons, Length 517.0', Beam 63.6', Comm. 24 May 18, Decom. 6 Oct 19, ID # 1645
    Three masts, with the middle one relatively short.

    .

     USS Harrisburg, circa 1918:

     USS Plattsburg, circa 1918:

    Note the short mast amidships
    		.

    Return to WWI Auxiliaries.