U.S.S. Alaskan

The U.S.S. Alaskan was a Navy transport ship used for hauling cargo and troops durng World War I between 1918-1919. She and her sister ship, the U.S.S. Arizonan, was built in 1902 in San Francisco, California by Union Iron Works for the American=Hawaiian Steamship Company. She was originally built to service the New York - San Francisco - Honolulu circuit before officially becoming a a member of the U.S. Navy in 1918 with Naval Registation Number: 4542. She was put into commission on March 24th, 1918 leaving Brooklyn, New York for Hampton Roads, Virginia.

On May 3rd, 1918, she was on a voyage with other fleets in a convoy. One of the other ships in the convoy, the U.S.S. Pearl F, made a bad decision to cut between columns resulting in a collision causing the stem of the U.S.S. Alaskan to be badly twisted, but was still able to finish her voyage. The Alaskan eventually returned to Brooklyn, New York under going repairs before moving on with her next voyage. Her next voyage was en route to French waters near Gibraltar in October 1918. On the 22nd of October, the U.S.S. Alaskan collided with a small fishing boat and sunk it. Luckily, the men in the boat were rescued by another nearby fishing boat. She completed this trip on the 29th of November 1918, which concluded her service with the U.S. Navy as a cargo ship.

In Dec 1918, she was selected as trooop transport ship and assigned to the Crusier and Transport Force. Over the following weeks, she was sent back to Brooklyn were her guns were removed and her transformation was put into play. Between February and July 1919, she was sent back and forth to France, to haul troops home post war. On August 5th, 1919, she was handed back over to the original owners and continued commercial service. In 1927, she was sold to an Italian company and renamed S.S. Memore with Companie Generale Armanento Soc. Anon on the registration. In 1933, she was no longer listed on any manifests and is assumed was scrapped the same year.

• Length: 149.35 m (490 ft)
• Beam: 17.42 m (57 ft 2 in)
• Draft: 9.70 m (31 ft 10 in)
• Propulsion: Two 3,000HP steam engines with two shafts
• Speed: 10 knots (11-12 Mph)
• Capacity: 8,672 tons

George Kuethe (Born: 1890) was on this vessel in March of 1919 to come home from Europe post-war while enlisted in the United States military.