Pollux (Id.No. 2573)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
I
(Id.No. 2573: dead weight tons 3,940; length 326'9" (between perpendiculars); beam 44'1"; draft 18'0"; speed 9.0 knots; complement 70)
Pollux -- built in 1909 by Werf voorheen Rijkee N. V., Rotterdam, Netherlands, and interned at Key West, Florida, during the Great War [World War I]-- was acquired by the Navy for service in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) from Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maastchappij, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 20 March 1918; and commissioned at Key West on 3 April 1918, Lt. Cmdr. Geert Scheltens, USNRF, in command.
Pollux, manned by a skeleton crew of available sailors, sailed for Cuba on 6 April 1918 and took on board sugar at Havana, Cardenas, and Matanzas. She returned to New Orleans, La., on 22 April with 25,000 bags of sugar for the American Sugar Refinery Co. before preparing for inactivation. Pollux was turned over to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on 24 April 1918 for further use during the Great War [World War I]
Ultimately, all Dutch vessels taken over by the U.S. were eventually redelivered to Holland, the last being returned on 8 November 1919.
Updated, Robert J. C ressman
25 March 2023
