View source for SS West Cressey

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|Ship image= [[File:SS West Cressey.jpg|300px|SS West Cressey]]
|Ship caption= SS ''West Cressey'' in the [[Manchester Ship Canal]], date unknown
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|Ship name= '''SS ''West Cressey'''''
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|Ship owner= [[U.S. Shipping Board]]
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|Ship builder= [[Skinner & Eddy]]
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|Ship yard number= 36 (USSB #1925)
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|Ship launched= 21 September 1918<ref name=pmr>''Pacific Marine Review'', October 1918, p. 143, J. S. Hines.</ref>
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|Ship acquired= 17 December 1918
|Ship commissioned= 17 December 1918–13 May 1919
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|Ship in service=*17 December 1918–1930?
*1941–4 September 1946
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|Ship renamed=*USS ''West Cressey'' (ID-3813) 1918
*''West Cressey'' 1919
*''Briansk I'' 1943
*''Tallin'' 1945
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|Ship fate= Stranded off [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Kamchatsky Cape]], 4 September 1946
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|Ship type= [[Design 1013 ship|Design 1013]] [[cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= 5,600 [[gross register tons|gross]], 8,800 [[deadweight tonnage|dwt]]
|Ship displacement= 12,225 tons
|Ship length=*{{convert|423|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
*{{convert|410|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} [[length between perpendiculars|bp]]
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|Ship power= 1 × vertical [[marine steam engine|triple expansion]]
|Ship propulsion= Single propeller
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|Ship complement=*[[USN]]: 81
*Merchant: 32
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'''SS ''West Cressey''''' was a [[steel]]-[[hull (watercraft)|hulled]] [[cargo ship]] that saw a brief period of service as an [[auxiliary ship|auxiliary]] with the [[U.S. Navy]] in the aftermath of [[World War I]].

''West Cressey'' was built in 1918 for the [[United States Shipping Board]]{{'}}s emergency wartime shipbuilding program. Delivered just too late to see service in the war, the ship was quickly commissioned into the Navy regardless, as '''USS ''West Cressey'' (ID-3813)''', but completed only two Navy missions—including a [[famine]] relief mission to [[Romania]]—before decommissioning a few months later.

Through the 1920s, the ship operated in a commercial capacity as SS ''West Cressey''. She was laid up for much of the 1930s through lack of work, but eventually re-entered service in 1941 as mounting losses to [[Kriegsmarine|German]] [[U-boats]] in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] had increased the demand for shipping.

Sold in 1943 to the [[Soviet Union]] under [[lend-lease]], ''West Cressey'' was renamed '''SS ''Briansk I''''' and later '''SS ''Tallin'''''. The ship survived the war, but was lost in a storm off [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Cape Kamchatsky]] in 1946.

==Construction and design==

''West Cressey'' was built in [[Seattle, Washington]] in 1918 by the [[Skinner & Eddy Corporation]]<ref name=ellisisland/>—the  21st in a series of 24 [[Design 1013 ship|Design 1013]] [[cargo ship]]s built by the company for the [[United States Shipping Board|USSB]]{{'}}s emergency wartime shipbuilding program.<ref name=sbh2>[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/wwi/pacific.htm "General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422125305/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/wwi/pacific.htm |date=2009-04-22 }}, ''shipbuildinghistory.com''.</ref>  The first ship launched from the company's No. 2 Plant, ''West Cressey''{{'}}s launch took place on 21 September, just sixty days after the laying of her keel.<ref name=pmr/>

''West Cressey'' had a design [[deadweight tonnage]] of 8,800 tons and [[gross register tonnage]] of 5,600.<ref name=sbh1>[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergency/wwone/skinnereddy.htm Skinner & Eddy, Seattle WA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916103507/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergency/wwone/skinnereddy.htm |date=2008-09-16 }}, ''shipbuildinghistory.com''.</ref> She had an overall length of 423 feet 9&nbsp;inches, a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 24 feet 2&nbsp;inches.<ref name=danfs>[http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_cressey.htm "West Cressey"], ''[[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]]'', Naval History and Heritage Command website.</ref> The ship was powered by a [[marine steam engine|triple expansion]] reciprocating [[steam engine]],<ref name=ellisisland>[http://www.ellisisland.org/shipping/Formatship.asp?shipid=3806 West Cressey], ''ellisisland.org''.</ref> driving a single screw propeller and delivering a speed of 11 [[knot (unit)|knots]].<ref name=danfs/> Since the ship was completed too late to see wartime service, she was not provided with any armament.<ref name=danfs/>

==Service history==

===U.S. Navy service, 1918-1919===

''West Cressey'' was delivered to the Navy on 17 December 1918<ref name=sbh2/> and commissioned the same day at the [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]] for operation with the [[Naval Overseas Transportation Service]] (NOTS) as '''USS ''West Cressey'' (ID-3813)'''.<ref name=silverstone234>Silverstone, p. 234.</ref>

''West Cressey''{{'}}s first and only voyage to Europe under Navy command began in January 1919 when the ship loaded a cargo of [[flour]] bound for [[Romania]] as part of a postwar famine relief mission. Sailing for the [[east coast of the United States|east coast]] of the U.S. on 12 January, ''West Cressey'' transited the [[Panama Canal]] and arrived at [[Norfolk, Virginia]] on 2 February. Here the ship was delayed for a few days for alterations and repairs, until departing for the [[Mediterranean]] on the 12th.<ref name=danfs/>

Calling at [[Gibraltar]] en route, ''West Cressey'' reached [[Constantinople]], [[Turkey]], on 10 March and discharged her cargo. She then loaded a large quantity of [[opium]] to be used for medicinal purposes along with a cargo of [[tobacco]] for the return journey to the U.S., departing 27 March. By 28 April ''West Cressey'' was back in [[New York City]]. On 13 May 1919, she was decommissioned and returned to control of the U.S. Shipping Board, thus ending her brief career with the Navy.<ref name=danfs/>

===Merchant service===

Following her decommission, ''West Cressey'' was placed into mercantile service by the USSB as '''SS ''West Cressey'''''. Records of the ship's movements after this point are scarce. The vessel is known to have made a voyage from [[Rotterdam]], the [[Netherlands]] to [[New York City]] in 1920 which indicates that she may have been engaged in regular [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] service.<ref name=ellisrecords>.  She eventually was commercially operated by Page & Jones, Inc. (Mobile, Al.) [http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/search/ship_date.asp?letter=w&half=1&sname=West*Cressey&year=1920 Ellis Island Ship Database - West Cressey], ''ellisislandrecords.org''.</ref> By 1927, the ship was operating for the Texas Oceanic Line, making a voyage in December of that year from [[Galveston, Texas]] to [[Liverpool, England]].<ref name=nationalarchives>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-4729821&FullDetails=True&j=1&Gsm=2008-08-08 Item details BT 26/842/85], ''nationalarchives.gov.uk''.</ref> With the onset of the [[Great Depression]] in 1929, the scale of international trade fell sharply and many ships were mothballed in this period due to lack of work, ''West Cressey'' included. Laid up at [[New Orleans]]<ref name=nyt_bids/> in the early 1930s, the USSB had ceased to maintain the vessel by 1933.<ref name=danfs/>

Unlike many of her contemporaries however, ''West Cressey'' was to escape the scrap merchants' yard, and following the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939, steadily mounting losses of merchant ships to [[U-boat]]s revived the demand for shipping tonnage. In order to help meet this demand, the successor to the USSB, the [[Maritime Commission]], in addition to its orders for new tonnage, implemented a reconditioning program for older ships previously laid up. ''West Cressey'' became one of the ships so reconditioned, and in March 1941 she was placed back into service with the [[Grace Line]] for a monthly charter price of $16,486.<ref name=nyt_bids>[https://www.nytimes.com/1941/02/25/archives/lines-bid-on-four-ships-maritime-commissions-laidup-fleet-is-source.html "Lines Bid On Four Ships: Maritime Commission's Laid-Up Fleet Is Source Of Vessels"], ''[[New York Times]]'', February 25, 1941 (subscription required).</ref><ref name=lat1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121022162819/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/410901901.html?dids=410901901:410901901&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+02,+1941&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=SHIPPING+NEWS+And+Activities+at+LOS+ANGELES+HARBOR&pqatl=google "Shipping News and Activities at Los Angeles Harbor"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', March 2, 1941 (subscription required).</ref> Following this revival of fortune, ''West Cressey'' appears to have been employed for the next few months in a shuttle service between [[Los Angeles]] and [[Honolulu]].<ref name=lat2>[https://archive.today/20130201075500/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/411143881.html?dids=411143881:411143881&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=May+01,+1941&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Other+12+--+No+Title&pqatl=google "Other 12"], ''Los Angeles Times'', May 1, 1941 (subscription required).</ref><ref name=lat3>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121022162905/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/413573581.html?dids=413573581:413573581&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+13,+1941&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Other+9+--+No+Title&pqatl=google "Other 9"], ''Los Angeles Times'', July 13, 1941 (subscription required).</ref>

On 20 August 1941 the ship was purchased by the [[War Shipping Administration]] (WSA) and placed in service in Seattle, Washington operated by the [[American Mail Line]] acting as the WSA agent.<ref name=MARADVSC>{{cite web |url=http://www.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/6407 |title=''West Cressey'' |author=Maritime Administration |work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card |publisher= U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration |access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref> From 19 May until 13 July 1942 the ship was operating under control of the United States Army in the [[South West Pacific Area (command)|Southwest Pacific Area]] without being assigned a local fleet X number.<ref>{{cite book |last=Masterson |first=Dr. James R. |title=U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947  |year=1949 |publisher=Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army |location=Washington, D. C. |page=Appendix 30, p. 7 }}</ref>

On 26 January 1943, ''West Cressey'' was transferred at San Francisco to the [[Soviet Union]] under [[lend-lease]], and renamed '''SS ''Briansk I'''''.<ref name=MARADVSC /> Her activities are not known after this point, but in 1945 she was renamed '''SS ''Tallin'''''. ''Tallin'' survived the war, but was stranded and lost off [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Cape Kamchatsky]] on 4 September 1946.<ref name=silverstone169>Silverstone, p. 169.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==

*Pacific Ports Inc. (1919): ''Pacific Ports Annual'', Fifth Edition, 1919, pp. 64-65, 402-405, Pacific Ports Inc.
*Silverstone, Paul H. (2006): ''The New Navy, 1883-1922'', Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-97871-2}}.
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_cressey.htm}}

==External links==
*[http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html?search3.php~haguemain Arnold Hague Convoy Database], ''convoyweb.org.uk''. (Click the "Ship Search" link and enter '''West Cressey''' for a list of known convoys in which the ship participated).

{{Design 1013 ships}}

{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:West Cressey Ss}}
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Design 1013 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Skinner & Eddy]]
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]