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USS ''West Avenal'' (ID-3871) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I. She had been built as SS ''West Avenal'' for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) as part of the ''West'' boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States. ''West Avenal'' was launched in October 1918 by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco, California, and delivered to the US Navy when she was completed in February 1919. After she was commissioned and had taken on a load of flour, ''West Avenal'' sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, where she was decommissioned in early April. Though little is available regarding ''West Avenal''s civilian career, she is known from contemporary news account to have visited ports in Spain, Italy, France, Brazil and Uruguay in the early 1920s. In January 1920, ''West Avenal'' was rammed by a British cargo ship in New York Harbor and was grounded to prevent her sinking. By late 1928, ''West Avenal'' had been abandoned by the USSB, and was scrapped in August 1929. == Design and construction == The ''West'' ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for emergency use during World War I. All were given names that began with the word ''West'', like ''West Avenal'',〔Crowell and Wilson, pp. 358–59.〕 one of some 15 ''West'' ships built by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco, California.〔 ''West Avenal'' (Western Pipe and Steel No. 3)〔 was launched on 13 October 1918, and delivered to the Navy upon completion on 1 February 1919.〔〔 The ship was ,〔 and was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam. ''West Avenal'' had a steel hull and a deep hold.〔 She displaced 12,200 t,〔 and had a deadweight tonnage of .〔 In common with the first eight ships built by Western Pipe & Steel, ''West Avenal'' was powered by a single General Electric steam turbine rated at 2,500 shaft horsepower,〔 that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at a pace.〔 These General Electric turbines proved unreliable and most of the ships powered by them were either lost or scrapped by the end of the 1920s. Later vessels of the same type built by WPS for the USSB were powered by much more reliable Joshua Hendy triple expansion steam engines, and had considerably longer service lives.〔Mawdsley, pp. 8-10.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS West Avenal (ID-3871)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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