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USS ''West Bridge'' (ID-2888) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I. She was begun as SS ''War Topaz'' but was completed as SS ''West Bridge'', though she was referred to in some publications under the spelling ''Westbridge''. After the ship was decommissioned from the Navy, the ship returned to civilian service as SS ''West Bridge'', but was renamed SS ''Barbara Cates'', and SS ''Pan Gulf'' over the course of her civilian career under American registry. Near the end of World War II, the ship was renamed SS ''Lermontov'' ((ロシア語:''Лермонтов'')) when she sailed under the Soviet flag. ''West Bridge'' was one of the ''West'' ships, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built for the on the West Coast of the United States. The ship was launched in April 1918 and delivered to the U.S. Navy upon completion in May. After commissioning, USS ''West Bridge'' sailed from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast of the United States and joined a convoy of cargo ships headed to France in August. After ''West Bridge'' suffered an engine breakdown at sea, the convoy was attacked by two German submarines and ''West Bridge'' was torpedoed and abandoned. A salvage crew from American destroyer boarded the ship the following day, and, working with four tugs dispatched from France, successfully brought the ship into port. Four men received the Navy Cross for their efforts in saving ''West Bridge''. After seven months of repair, ''West Bridge'' resumed Navy service until her December 1919 decommissioning and return to the . ''West Bridge'' was laid up for nearly seven years from 1922 to 1929, when she was sold for service on an intercoastal cargo service under the name SS ''Barbara Cates''. By 1938, the ship had been renamed ''Pan Gulf'' for service with a subsidiary of the Waterman Steamship Company. During World War II, ''Pan Gulf'' made nine roundtrips between the United States and the United Kingdom without incident in wartime convoys. She also sailed between New York and ports on the Gulf Coast and in the Caribbean. In May 1945, the ship was transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease. Renamed SS ''Lermontov'', the ship sailed in support of the war and continued in civilian service for the Soviets until 1966, when she was scrapped at Split. == Design and construction == To replace shipping tonnage lost to German submarines during World War I, the British Shipping Controller sought newly built ships from American shipyards.〔McKellar, p. 270.〕 As part of of shipping which had been ordered by March 1917,〔 an order for nine vessels of was placed with J. F. Duthie & Company of Seattle.〔McKellar, pp. 283-84.〕 Because the United States had not yet entered World War I, the Shipping Controller, to skirt neutrality laws, placed orders through various British shipping companies. Although the specific company that placed the order with Duthie is not reported in secondary sources, the company most often used for these orders was the Cunard Steamship Company.〔 As one of the nine ships ordered,〔〔In addition to ''War Topaz''—''West Bridge''s original name—the other eight ships were ''War Leopard'', ''War General'', ''War Emerald'', ''War Sun'', ''War Moon'', ''War Fort'', ''War Disk'', and ''War Ruby''. See: McKellar, pp. 283–84.〕 J. F. Duthie & Company laid down the keel of ''War Topaz'' as the eleventh ship begun at their shipyard.〔 On 6 August 1917, the Emergency Fleet Corporation—an entity created by the shortly after the United States entered the war on 6 April and tasked with overseeing U.S. shipbuilding—requisitioned most ships under construction in the United States;〔McKellar, p. 271.〕 included among those was ''War Topaz''.〔 By the time of her 24 April 1918 launch, the ship had been renamed ''West Bridge'',〔 becoming one of the ''West'' ships, cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States.〔Crowell and Wilson, pp. 358–59.〕 Just a bit over one month later, on 26 May, the finished ''West Bridge'' was delivered to the United States Navy.〔 As completed, the steel-hulled ship was long (between perpendiculars), abeam, and drew . ''West Bridge'' had a displacement of , and her -deep hold allowed the ship to be rated at .〔〔 The ship was powered by a single triple-expansion steam engine built by the Hooven, Owens, & Rentschler Company of Hamilton, Ohio.〔 The engine, with cylinders of , , and 72 inches (62, 105, and 180 cm) diameter with a stroke,〔 was capable of generating up to ,〔 allowing the single screw propeller to move the ship at up .〔〔 For her U.S. Navy service in World War I, ''West Bridge'' was equipped with one and one gun.〔 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 Bridge (ID-2888)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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